Songs of the Heart
by Sandra3
Summary: An Alternative ending for "Last Knight."


Copy of FK SONGS OF THE HEART

Hi everyone. This is my fist FK Fan Fiction. I submitted it some time ago to Mel's sight, but since it has not been updated recently, I reedited the story, and have decided to submit it here.

This is a disclaimer stating I do not own the rights to either song, "When Will I See You Again," By The Three Degrees, and "Love's Grown Deep," By Kenny Nolan, nor any character from Forever Knight, nor any episode I have mentioned in this story. There are several characters that I have written in this story, that are mine. All others are the property of Sony/Tri-Star, Paragon, James Parriott, Barney Cohen, and etc.

Also, the greeting card I have used in this story is also not mine. It is an actual greeting card I found in a local department store, from Ambassador Cards. When I saw it in the store, I couldn't help but buy it and use it in this story, because I felt it said in a nutshell, what Nick's heart felt about Natalie, but he could not put it into words.

Now without further ado, I present my interpretation of "Last Knight."

"Songs of the Heart"

Sandra Ferrell

sef11@bellsouth.net

Real Estate agent Caroline Taylor, planning on surprising her husband with a late supper to celebrate his return from a hospital stay in Montreal, was dressed up rather than down in her husbands favorite outfit, a simple pale blue sleeveless dress cut above the knee. 'But,' she said to herself, 'This is a special night, so why not dress up a little?' She was thinking, as she drove she and her young client, Sheila Cromer, through the deserted parking lot of the 6-story office building, where her Real Estate office had been for the last 15 years. In the back parking lot, she waved at the security guard, and said to Sheila, "Oh, look. That's Mike. He's one of the nicest Security Guards we have here." She then drove into the parking lot that was in the front of the building, to the only car in the parking lot, a small compact car, belonging to her client. She parked in the space next to it, then cut the engine. 

The two women exited the car, and Sheila extended her hand for Mrs. Taylor, and they shook hands. "Thanks Mrs. Taylor," Sheila said, "For showing me the house so late."

"It's not that late, Sheila. And besides, that's why my Real Estate Agency has been voted best of Toronto, 6 years running. Customer relations."

"Still, I bet you would rather be spending this time with your husband."

"Don't worry about the time. He understands. Now," She said as she turned around to look at Sheila. "I have some more houses to show you…"

"No," Sheila interrupted. "I liked the one you showed me tonight. I really think my fiancée will like it too, but he needs to see it, first. Would it be all right if he sees it tomorrow, at the same time?"

"That's not a problem," Mrs. Taylor said. She walked over to her car and reached in and took out her appointment book. "That's an appointment for," She looked over to Sheila, with a puzzled look on her face. "I'm sorry, but you never told me his name."

"Oh, Sorry. Phil Garrison."

"Ok," Mrs. Taylor said, as she wrote the information down in the book. "Appointment for Phil Garrison, 8:15pm tomorrow night, house on Willow and 2nd Street." She finished writing, then looked up to Sheila. "And, tell him I'm really looking forward for him to see it, and I hope he likes it as much as you do." 

"But are you sure that time is not too late for you?" 

"No, Sheila, so don't worry. I've owned my own business for a very long time, and I've learned along the way, your clients are your most important asset; you do things at their convenience."

"Ok, thanks," Sheila said. "If you're sure, so I'll tell Phil to be here tomorrow night." Sheila got into her small compact car, and was about to leave the parking lot, then stopped her car. "Mrs. Taylor," She asked, concerned. "Are you sure you don't want me to wait on you? It is kind of late to be here all alone."

"Not at all" she replied, "I need to pick up something from my office, then I'll be leaving, too," She said smiling. "I'll be fine, so don't worry."

"Ok," Sheila replied. "If you're sure." Mrs. Taylor shook her head up and down, and then Sheila put her car in drive and drove out of the parking lot.

Mrs. Taylor waved to the departing car, then closed her appointment book and turned around and was about to lock the door of her car, when a gloved hand grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth. The large hand, obviously male, turned her around to look at him. She scanned his dress. He was wearing a black ski mask, black jacket, black gloves, black shirt, black pants and a pair of red boots. 'All black, but red boots?' She said to herself, a little confused about his dress. She shook her head in disgust, trying to imagine who this could be, and then a light went on in her head. 'RED BOOTS!' She didn't need to see his face, to know who her assailant was. 

He pressed his pelvis up against her and panted in her ear, "You could have had THIS AGAIN…He can't give you what I have! What kind of hold does he have on you, that you would leave me, for him!"

"He does not have a hold on me. I love him, and he loves me, and I will not leave him for you. But I've told you that already."

He slapped her across the face, drawing blood from her lip. "No one leaves me, especially you. I will not let you! You belong to me!" 

"I am not yours and I do not belong with you. I belong with him." He thew her down on the hard concrete of the parking lot. Her legs scraped on the concrete, causing her left leg to bleed. She grabbed it, crying, "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because I have all the money you could ever want, and you still left me," He said screaming. He then kicked her on her right calf and thigh.

"Did you think you could win me with money? Do you really believe I'm that shallow?"

"You are, and you know it!"

"I am not," She said fiercely. She placed her weight on her elbow, then got onto her right knee, panting as she rose, then said, "And, I think it's about time I…"

He pushed her back down, and kicked her on her other leg. "You don't seem to understand," he said with fire in his eyes. "If I can't have you, no one will!" He took out a gun and pointed it to her chest and fired.

Her eyes were still open, but she was completely still. He pushed her dress up slightly, then reached under her dress and pulled off her panties and threw them violently to his right side, then pulled down his own pants and underwear, and got down between her legs. 

"Now you will see what it fells like to have a real man, fuck you, again. Just too bad, you will never feel it this good, again," He said satanically.

As he squatted and was about to thrust, he heard the approach of a vehicle. "Oh, shit," he said. He pulled up his pants, then left, leaving the lifeless body of Caroline Taylor lying in the parking lot, next to her car.

Mike the security guard was in his vehicle making his rounds, but stopped at the sight of Caroline Taylor's car. He took out his flashlight and exited his vehicle saying, "Mrs. Taylor? Are you all right? It's kind of lat…" He stopped in his tracks, gasped, then placed his hand over his mouth. He walked over to her, his face turning pale, and placed his hand on her neck to feel for a pulse. He sighed deeply, then ran back to his vehicle, and made a call on his cell phone, and got:

"Hello, Metro Homicide, Detective Knight."

"Detective Knight," Mike said his voice shacking. "This is Mike Mosley, the Security Guard from the 500 Building on 15th and Main. I just found the body of one of our tenants, Caroline Taylor, dead in the West parking lot. She's been beaten up, and she has a very bloody wound, coming from her chest."

"Ok, Mr. Mosley," Nick said. "I, my partner and someone with the coroners office will be there, ASAP." Nick hung up the phone and picked up two folders from his desk, then walked to Reese's office and knocked on the door. "Capt.? Just got a call. Security Guard at the 500 Building on 15th and Main, just found one of their tenants, Caroline Taylor, dead in the West parking lot. Is it all right if Trace and I take it?"

"Depends," Reese said. "Do you have the reports on the Carney Murder and the Rosenthal murder, finished yet?" 

Nick placed the two folders he had in his hand, on Reese's desk. "Yes, I just finished them."

"Ok," Reese said. "Pick up your partner and get over there. Caroline Taylor," he said as he knitted his eyebrows. "That name sounds familiar." 

"I believe she owns Taylor Real Estate. And if I'm not mistaken, she's the one who sold me my place."

"That's it. She sold Denise and I, our place too." He sighed deeply, then continued. "You let me know how it goes. Why anyone would hurt such a nice lady, is beyond my comprehension."

"Mine too, Capt. Mine too," Nick said as he took his leave.

By the time Nick and Tracy made it to the 500 Building, several patrol cars and offices were already there helping protect the crime scene, along with Nat, who was leaning over the body. They walked over to her and Nick said, "Hi Nat. What you got?"

"Caroline Taylor, age 45. She's been beaten up pretty badly and shot in the heart. Death was instantaneous. And, whoever did this to her, also appears to me to have tried to rape her, also." 

"Before or after death." Nick asked.

"I'm pretty sure after, because it doesn't look he got insi…"

"I get the picture, Nat," Nick replied, a little embarrassed about the subject matter. 

"But what makes you think attempted rape?" Tracy asked, curiously.

"Well," Nat replied, as she pointed to Caroline Taylor's body. "Notice the position of her dress. It has been pushed up slightly, and then notice she is not wearing any underwear."

"Oh," Tracy replied. 

"But I won't know for sure until I get her back to the shop."

"So," Nick asked. "If the Security Guard didn't show up, the person who did this would have probably raped her, after she had died."

"Ewe," Tracy said. "Sex with a corpse? What kind of sick person would do that?"

"I don't know," Nat replied, "But that's you and your partners job. Catch this creep."

We will Nat," Nick said. "Do you have any idea how long she's been dead?"

"No more than 20 minutes."

"How can you be so sure?" Nick asked, inquisitively.

"Security Guard. He said he saw her and another passenger in her car enter the North Parking lot, no more than 15 minutes before he found her."

"Where is he now?" 

Nat pointed to a Security vehicle, parked in front of the entrance to the building. "He was looking a little green, so I told him to go to his vehicle, and I would send you over there, when you got here."

"Thanks Nat." He turned from her, to look at Tracy. "Tracy? Look around the body, and see what clues you can find."

"Sure thing, Nick," she said as Nick walked toward the Security vehicle.

"Mr. Mosley? I'm Detective Knight."

"Yes, Detective. I'll tell you what I know. Mrs. Taylor was always making appointments at odd hours of the night, so when I saw her drive into the North Parking lot about 8:45, I didn't think anything off it."

"You told the Coroner, you saw a passenger. Can you identify that person?"

"No. I only got a glimpse. I have no idea if the passenger was male or female. I was just finishing up my round in the East parking lot and was just about to start the North, when I saw her drive past me. I waved at her and she waved back. As I finished up the inspection of the North lot, I drove my vehicle into this parking lot, and that's when I saw her car. She should have been gone by then, so I assumed she was having car trouble. I parked my car and took out my flashlight, then walked over to her car. And," he said as he began to turn even paler, "That's when I saw her. I check for a pulse, then I called you."

"Do you know if she had any enemies?"

"No. She was one of the nicest people I have ever known. She was always there if you needed help. I was in the hospital, several years ago. My insurance paid for some of it, but it wasn't enough. My wife and I didn't know how we were going to pay for the essentials since we had just had a baby. Do you know what she did?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders, in response.

"She showed up on our doorstep with enough groceries and baby supplied to last two months." A tear began to appear in his eye. "You find the monster who did this to her, please." 

"We will Mr. Mosley. You are our only witness so far, so please do not leave town, without calling Metro Homicide first." Nick reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his card and handed it to him. "If you remember anything, please call night or day. I only work the night shift, but if you can't reach me, you can get in touch with my partner Tracy Vetter, or Captain Reese, and," As he took out his notebook from his jacket, "I will need your phone #."

"No problem, Detective. The number at work is 555-6195, and my home Number is 555-9110. If you need me for anything, please feel free to call me at home."

"Thank you, Mr. Mosley, we will." Nick turned around and began to walk toward Tracy and Nat, when Mr. Mosley, placed his hand to his head, then said, "Detective Knight? I just remembered something."

Nick walked back to him. "Yes?"

"There is only one person I know of, who may have a grudge against her. A former employee, by the name of Silas Jones. I don't know all of the details, but she fired him around a year ago, and he didn't think much of it."

"Did you know him?"

"Somewhat. He didn't get along with anyone, including me. He was a very unlikable character, rude and looked down at everyone. And for some reason, he hated her husband with a passion."

Nick wrote the information down in his notebook, then looked up to Mosley again. "Ok, Silas Jones, disgruntled former employee. That's a start. Thanks Mr. Mosley for your help. I will call, if I need you."

"Like I said, call, if I can give you any information."

Nick turned from him and walked back to Nat and Tracy. "Trace? Find anything useful?"

"I believe so. Her panties were found in a heap, several feet from her right side, which adds weight to Nat's attempted rape theory."

"Yes, it certainly does," Nick added. 

"Yes," Tracy said, excitingly. "But, I also found this," she replied, as she pointed to an entry in Caroline Taylor's appointment book. "She had an appointment with someone named Sheila Cromer, at 8:15 tonight."

Nick looked down at the entry and entered a phone Number into his cell phone. He then closed his cell phone back up, and frowned.

"What's wrong, Nick?"

"No answer. We may want to go over to her address and…" His sentence was interrupted by a disturbance at the entrance to the parking lot, that was covered with crime scene tape, a patrol car, and a uniformed policeman. A car, Sheila's small compact car was parked outside the crime scene tape, and she was standing at the tape talking to the policeman.

As Nick and Tracy walked toward the car, Nick asked, "Anything wrong Pearson?"

"This woman insists on coming into the parking lot. I told her that was impossible, because of a murder investigation."

She looked over to Nick. "Can you tell me what is going on? I was here less than 30 minutes ago, and everything was fine. What is going on, and why is Mrs. Taylor's car still here?" Her face turned pale. "Is Mrs. Taylor all right," She asked concerned.

"You knew Mrs. Taylor?"

"Yes. I had an appointment with her, earlier, to look at a house. We got back to the parking lot around 8:45. We talked for a few minutes and she made an appointment for my fiancée to see the house tomorrow night at the same time…Wait a minute, you said, knew? What is going on?"

Is your name Sheila Cromer?"

"Yes. Like I said, I had an appointment."

"If you left her at 8:45, why are you coming back?" Nick said.

"Yes," Tracy challenged. "Maybe you came back to see if Mrs. Taylor was indeed dead, after you beat her up?"

Sheila placed her head in her hands, as her face turned pale. "You can't believe I would or could kill her. And why?"

"Then why did you come back, if you were heading home," Nick asked.

"I never said I was going straight home. I said I left the parking lot. I hadn't eaten anything yet, so I went up Main St., to the Burger Barn. On this side of town, it's the only place opened this late. On my return trip home, I noticed Mrs. Taylor's car was still in the parking lot. She told me when I left, she would be leaving soon after I did, but had to pick up something from her office first. So when I saw her car was still in the parking lot, I was worried she was having car trouble and might need a ride."

"OK," Nick said. "What time did the two of you re-enter the parking lot?"

At 8:45 or so, like I said earlier. Mrs. Taylor smiled and said 'Oh, look. That's Mike. He's one of the nicest Security Guards we have here.' He waved at us, and she waved back, then she drove over to my car that was parked in the West lot. We talked for a few minutes, then we…"

"Yes," Nick said. "You told us you talked to her and made an appointment for your fiancée to see the house. When you came into the parking lot, did you notice anything besides the security guard?"

She shook her head from side to side. At that Moment, Nat interrupted them. "Nick? Can you come over here for a second?"

"Excuse me, I will only be a minute." He walked over to Nat. "What do you have Nat?"

"Ok. Whoever did this, I'm just guessing, is male, because of the depth of the wounds, and the size of the shoe print," She said as she pointed to the print on the concrete. "It's my opinion, it's at least a size 10. Maybe, larger. But one thing is certain. Whoever is responsible is very strong, and the kicks to her legs were made with a shoe with a sharp tip, like the type you find on cowboy boots. I also found a piece of red leather imbedded in the wound on her left leg."

"You really think we're looking for a male?"

"Yes," Nat said, yawning.

"Nat, are you all right? You have been yawning way to much lately, and you have dark circles under your eyes."

"I'm fine, Nick. I just haven't been getting a lot of sleep the last couple of days. I'll be all right, if I get some sleep tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said Angrily.

"Nat, are you mad at me?"

"No," She said, trying to be convincing, but Nick knew her better than that. 'She's mad at me for something,' Nick thought to himself. "I know in the past she has had a reason to do so, but not now. In fact, we've been getting along a lot better in the last few months since Divia's death, and the decision I come to a few days ago, will change our lives, forever. And now, it looks like I've blown it again with the one person in 800 years, who has made me really fell alive, and I love like no one I have ever met. Yes, I am in love with her; I finally had to admit it to myself, before I really went crazy. I am really and truly, madly in love with Natalie Lambert, and I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about her, and I can not see living my life without her. But now, she's mad at him for something and I'm at a loss to figure out what I've done.' 

"Nat, you are mad at me. Please tell me what it is?"

"I said, it's nothing Nick. Really. I'm just tired."

"Ok, Nat. By the way, do you think the Security Guard, may have been the one?"

"No, for several reasons. First, the boots. He's wearing Black work boots. And second, I don't believe he's heavy enough to do the type of damage that was inflicted. I believe it had to have been someone with upper and lower body strength. And the security guard I believe, is too thin to do that type of damage."

"Ok, Nat. Listen. I'm going to send Tracy back to you. I need to talk to that young lady she is talking too, in private."

"No, Nick."

"She was with Mrs. Taylor, right before her death. It's a real possibility she saw the person responsible and didn't even know it. I just want her to remember every detail. Don't worry Nat. I'm not going to make her forget anything."

"Ok, Nick, if you think it will help." 

He reached down and kissed her on the cheek, then walked back to Tracy and Sheila and motioned with his finger for Tracy to go over and talk to Nat. Tracy waked over to Nat, and they began to converse, leaving Sheila and Nick, alone.

"Ok, Mrs. Cromer. You said you only saw the security Guard. Are you sure you saw nothing else?"

"No, I'm sorry Detective. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have been more observant, but it was late, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

Nick said, "Sheila, look at me." She turned around, and Nick looked her in the eyes and concentrated on her heartbeat. "Listen to me. Concentrate, and remember. Did you see anything out of he ordinary?"

"Yes," she said in a monotone voice. "There was a figure dressed all in black hiding behind the trash can at the door for the North side of the building." Nick broke his concentration, and she shook her head to break out of the trance. "I did see something, didn't I? Hugh?"

"You are a witness, so please do not leave town, without calling Metro Homicide first." He gave her one of his cards. "If you remember anything, please call night or day. I only work the night shift, but if you can't reach me, you can get in touch with my partner Tracy Vetter, or Captain Reese, and," As he took out his notebook again, "I will need your phone #."

She handed him a business card. "I have my own business, and I work out of my home. If you can't get me on the first line, call the second number, and leave a message on the recorder."

"Ok, Ms. Cromer, You are free to go." She smiled at him, then walked back toward her car. Only after she was safely back to her car and pulled out of the parking lot, did Nick turn around and walk back to Nat and Tracy.

Caroline Taylor's body was already in the ambulance, as he came over to Nat and placed his arm around her waist. She pushed him away, and her action was not lost on Tracy who looked at them, with a little concern.

He whispered in her ear. "What Nat? What have I done now, to make you so mad at me?"

"You literally jump the bones of a suspect, and you ask me that!"

"Nat, you know me better than that. I would never do anything like that."

"Well, yes," she said sighing. "Because you have never tried it with me, either," she said angrily. She turned from him and walked toward her car.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but thought better of it and walked over to Tracy. Tracy then said to Nat in a cherry voice, "See you back at the shop?"

"Yes, I'm leaving right now. See you both, then."

Back at the Coroner's office, Nat was doing a preliminary on Caroline Taylor, when Tracey entered.

"Hi, Nat." She said happily. "Have anything for us?"

"Yes," Nat replied, as she looked behind her, a look of surprise on her face by the fact she was alone. "Where's your partner?"

"Parking the car. His regular spot out front and the entire parking lot is full. He had to park across the street in the auxiliary parking lot, so he dropped me off first." At that moment, Nick walked into the office, behind Tracy.

"Hi, Nat. Sorry to keep you waiting, but the parking lot was packed. What is going on tonight?"

Nat looked over at Nick and with a smirk, said, "Well, you know what they say about a full moon."

He giggled slightly and gave her a knowing look, then said, "Yeah, so, what do you have on Caroline Taylor?"

"Besides she was beaten and shot to death?" She said sarcastically.

Nat's tone was not lost on Tracy. 'She is mad at Nick for some reason, but why? I've never seen any two people as much in love with each other as they are, but they kept denying it, and I'm not the only person to see it; the whole Precinct knows it. So, why do they put each other through this, denying it to themselves and each other?'

"Sorry," Nick said to Nat. "What I mean is, did you find out anything else?"

"Yes. My theory was right. It appears she was almost raped after she had died, but he did not get inside."

Then how can you tell it was attempted rape?" Tracy asked confused.

"Well I did not find any evidence of semen, but I did find several pubic hairs on her body, that do not belong to her. I'll do a DNA work-up on them, and have that information for you, in a couple of hours. And I will need samples from any suspect. Do you have any yet?"

"Not yet. Well except for the person the guard told us about, and there is also her husband. We can get a sample from him when he comes over to identify her body."

"Ok, that sounds good, but the pubic hair is not the only evidence. Forensics confirmed the shoe prints at the scene were made from a pair of boots, possibly cowboy boots, and size 12." As she took a folder from her desk, opened it up, and handed it to him, "And the soles were worn down. " 

"Ok," Nick said. "And by the way, was the speck you found on the wound on her leg in fact red leather, like you suspected?"

"Yes, and it was very worn."

"So," Tracy added. "We're looking for someone wearing a pair of size 12 and possibly beat up and warn red cowboy boots?"

"That's it, but it's a little odd."

"What is," Nick added to the conversation. 

"All the fiber evidence I retrieved from her body, was black. And if in fact he was wearing all black except for red boots, he should have stood out like a sore thumb."

"Yes," Nick replied. "A person wearing black, does correspond to what our witness told me about the person she saw on the North side of the building." 

Tracy turned to look in Nat's direction. "Nat, can you tell if she had been abused in the past?"

"No. There was no indication of any type of abuse, in the past. Just what she acquired during the attack, or they could not have been any more than 1 to 2 days old."

"Are you sure?" Nick replied.

"Yes, because of the redness of the bruising. And" As she pointed to the bruises on Caroline Taylor's arms and legs, "These bruises are not in places that were hidden. And if you remember the dress she was wearing…"

As Tracey butted in, "Was sleeveless, and cut above the knee."

"Exactly," Nat said.

"Ok," Tracy added. "Looks like we've got a lot of phone calls to make. Tracy headed to the door, but Nick stayed where he was. "Nick? Are you coming with me, or am I going to do this on my own, yet again?" She said with a little agitation in her voice.

"Sorry Trace. Be with you in a minute. I need to ask Nat something. You head back to the Precinct, and I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Ok," Tracy said. "I'll get on this, then. By, Nat." Tracy left the Coroner's office, leaving Nick and Nat there, by themselves.

"Nat? Is something wrong? You've been a little cold toward me the last couple of days."

"It's nothing, Nick," she said as she walked away from him.

"It is something, Nat. You can tell me."

"Ok, if you insist. Nick, look. I don't think we need to see each other for a little while. We spend way to much time together, and people are beginning to talk that we're lovers, and I can't convince them we're just friends, so I think we need to lay off for a little while."

"I don't care what people think," He said with a grin on his face.

"But, I do. If it were the truth I wouldn't mind, but it is not, is it?" She said, harshly.

"Nat, we don't have to stop being friends."

"I don't know if it's such a goods idea to be seen together, if we are not going to be anything but friends. I just can't take it anymore, Nick. You keep pushing me away, and I want to know where our relationship is going. I think a break from each other, is for the best. At least for a while."

"Listen, Nat. You are right about our relationship. I know I push you away at times, but believe me, it's been because I had to protect you. Not from me, but others of my kind. You know, I would never do anything to hurt you." 

"Nick, I still think we need to not see each other for a while. A few weeks, maybe a month; just so we can figure out where our relationship is going."

Nick sighed deeply. "Ok Nat, if that's what you want, but remember. If you need to talk, I'm just a phone call away." He looked at her with a very sad expression on his face, then turned around and walked out the door.

After he left, Nat let out a deep sigh, knowing she had done the wrong thing. 'I don't want him out of my life,' She said to herself. 'If anything, I want him to be a part of my life, forever. Just proving that to him, seems to drain all of my energy.' She sighed deeply again, as she covered the body of Caroline Taylor. And Grace, who had just walked into the room, noticed Nat's discomfort. "Nat, are you all right?"

Nat turned from the body to face Grace. "No, Grace, I am not."

"What's wrong," she said as she placed her hand on Nat's shoulder.

"Nick, of course. I don't know where our relationship is going. At one time I think he loves me, then again, he pushes he away. I just can't stand it anymore, Grace. I have to know where I stand with him."

"Tell, him, Nat. You just tell him." 

"It's not that easy, Grace. It's a lot more complicated, at least when it concerns Nick."

"No relationship can be that hopeless, if you love each other, Nat. And, he does love you. And you love him?" Nat reluctantly shook her head up and down to agree with Grace's statement. "Yeah, that's what I thought. In fact, not only do I know it, you know it, he knows it, the whole Coroners office knows it, and the whole precinct knows it." Grace looked over at her, as a grin appeared on Nat's face. "What are you planning? Something devious, I bet."

"Not really devious Grace, but a plan to get him to tell me where our relationship is going." She grabbed her coat and her purse from her chair. "I'm taking off a couple of minutes early for my dinner break. I need to get out to the Mall, before it closes. If Nick stops by, don't tell him anything. Just I had to run a few errands." She then went out the door.

Nick entered the precinct and sat down at his desk, and sighed deeply. Tracy was hanging up her phone, when she saw the exasperated look on his face.

"Hay partner. From the look on your face, I'm guessing your talk with Nat, didn't go so well. Did you find out what's bothering her?"

"You saw it too?" Tracy shook her head up and down. "At the crime scene, she said she hadn't been getting enough sleep lately. Then, just a second ago, she said she didn't want to see me for a while. I don't know what is going on, Trace. I haven't done anything to make her mad at me, or least I don't think I have."

Tracy patted him on the back, and knew right then, they could tell everyone they were just friends, but you don't react like that, if you're just friends. It's apparent they're in love each other. "Well, Partner, while you were gallivanting around," She said with a giggle trying to lighten his mood. It did not help. "Well," She continued now in a more serious tone, "I called up Andrew Taylor. He gave me some story he was just released from the hospital, and he was very weak and under his doctors orders not to drive, but he said we were welcome to come by his home."

"How did he sound? I mean did he sound like he was really sick, or did it sound like he was trying to cover something up?"

"I'm not sure, Nick. I know you have been doing this for a while and have a knack for it, but I really couldn't tell, so I called up the hospital he said he was in."

"And?"

"He was released from Montreal General Hospital, yesterday. He had a severe case of food poisoning."

"Still, we need him to come by the precinct," He said with a sigh. At that moment, an uniformed officer walked past their desks. "Miller," Nick asked. 

"Yeah, Nick?" Officer Miller said, as he stopped in front of Nick and Tracy.

"Are you on patrol tonight?" Miller shook his head up and down. "Good. Can you wait a second? I may need you to do something for me." Miller shook his head up and down, waiting at Nick's desk, as Nick dialed a phone number. "Mr. Taylor? Hello. This is Nick Knight with Metro Pd. First I would like to express my condolences for your loss."

"Thank you, Detective," A frail Andrew Taylor said from the other end of the phone. "What can I do for you?"

"My partner told me about your condition and you can not drive, but we really need you to come by the precinct and ID your wife's body. I know how difficult this is for you, but the faster we do all of this, the sooner we will be able to find out who did this to her."

"I understand," Andrew Taylor replied. "What do you need me to do? I can not drive, but if it is really that imperative I do this tonight, I can see if a friend can drive me to the precinct."

"I can send an officer to pick you up, if that is alright with you."

"That is fine with me, Detective. Anything that will help to find out who could have done this to my Caroline," He said almost crying, "Is fine with me."

"OK, Mr. Taylor. Officer Miller will be there in a few minutes." Nick hung up the phone, and looked over at Miller and handed him a piece of paper. "Miller, I am sure you head my conversation."

"Sure thing Nick," He said smiling, and taking the piece of paper from Nick's hand. "I'll have him back here…"

"No, the Morgue. We need him to ID his wife's body first."

"Sure thing, Nick," Miller said, as he walked out the door. 

Nick and Tracy were about to rise from their desks when a deep voice stopped them. "Knight, Vetter my office," Reese bellowed. They walked over to Reese's office and stood in the doorway. "Anything on the Taylor murder yet?"

"Nothing yet, Captain," Nick replied. "I sent Miller over to pick up Andrew Taylor…"

"Why? Is he a suspect?"

"He may be, but that is not the reason I sent Miller to pick him up. He is unable to drive, doctor's orders, but he sounded very ill and distraught and highly upset because of his loss."

"Ok, so where are you heading now?"

"The Morgue. Miller will drop Taylor off there to ID his wife's body, then we will bring him back here to talk to him."

"Ok. Get going, but let me know how it goes after you interview him."

In the morgue, Nick and Tracy entered, surprised that Nat was not there. "Grace," Nick asked. "Where is Nat? I expected her to be here."

"Sorry, Nick. She said she had some errands to run, and left a little early for her dinner break. Do you want to leave a message for her?"

"No, that's all right, Grace. She is mad at me for some reason, and…Oh never mind. But when she gets back, tell her I was asking about her. Ok?"

"Sure, Nick," She replied smiling, as Miller entered, helping a very frail and pale Andrew Taylor into the room.

"Mr. Taylor," Nick asked as he extended his hand for him to shake. "I am Detective Knight, and this," he said as he pointed to Tracy, "Is Detective Vetter." They shook hands, and then Nick led him into the morgue. Grace pulled opened one of the bays, then pulled back the sheet so Mr. Taylor could see her face, and he identified his wife's body. He broke down, and began to cry profusely. Nick saw how upset he was, and understood all to well when you loose someone close to you, how hard it is. He had gone through it many times in his life, but he really didn't know how Mr. Taylor would respond, when he had to ask him, what he had to ask him. He, Actually Nat needed a pubic hair from Andrew Taylor so she could compare it to the ones she found on Caroline Taylor's body, and Nick knew when he asked him, he would know he was a suspect.

"Detective? Why do you need…Was she raped?"

"No. But…"

"Someone tried too do it to her!" Nick shook his head up and down, sadly. "You do what ever you need to do to catch whoever is responsible," He said, falling into a chair in the morgue.

Back at the precinct, Nick and Tracy were in an interrogation room with Andrew Taylor, and Nick knew the moment he saw Andrew Taylor at the morgue and they shook hands, he could not have even killed a fly in his weakened condition, let alone his wife. Remembering Nat's theory about the assailant, he took a good hard look at Andrew Taylor. He was very thin, in fact sickly, and was having a hard time walking. 'One possibility' he thought to himself, 'Could be arthritis, or maybe, he had hurt himself, as he attacked his wife.' But he soon shook that thought out of his head, as Nick extended his hand to Andrew Taylor, again. And as Andrew shook his hand again, Nick looked down at his right hand and noticed a place on the top of his hand, where an I.V. had been inserted, recently. 'This man could not have murdered anyone.' Nick said to himself. 'He doesn't even have the strength to walk, or even shake hands.'

"Mr. Taylor," Nick asked, already knowing about the hospital stay asked, "Are you all right? You don't seem to have a lot of color in your face, or any energy."

Andrew, placed his elbows on the table in front of him, to help himself stay propped up, his exhausted state not lost on Nick. "Not really, Detective Knight. I'm sure your partner," pointing to Tracy, "Told you I just got out of the hospital yesterday, and I'm still a little weak, and now with Caroline's death, I'm not doing well, at all." He said sighing.

"We're sorry to have to go through with this right now, but it's imperative, if we're going to find out who did this to your wife."

"Yes," Tracy added. "I know this must be painful for you, but we have a few questions we must ask. First, how long were you in the hospital, and what were you in there for?"

"Two weeks, in Montreal. We were there for the weekend, and I got a hold of some bad fish in a restaurant we ate at, our first night there. It hit me during the night, and Caroline rushed me to the hospital, and they pumped my stomach." 

"Montreal General?"

"Yes. I know why you are asking all of these questions, and why you would need one of my pubic hairs. I am a suspect?" Nick shook his head up and down.

"We thought it was a possibility," Nick replied, "But after you shook my hand, I could feel the weakness in it; it didn't have any strength, and I noticed the spot on your right hand, where an I.V. had been inserted."

"Yes, they did place an I.V. In my hand…If I'm not a suspect…" Almost crying, "Who could have done this to my Caroline? There wasn't a bad bone in her body. She was a giver; you ask anyone who's ever met her."

"Yes," Nick said. "The security guard, Mike, was fond of her, and he mentioned someone who he didn't like, and who might have had a grudge against her."

The look on Andrew's face became red with rage. "Silas Jones." He said angrily.

"Yes, who is he? Mike said he was fired, and he didn't like him."

"No one did. Well, I may as well tell you all this. No since hiding it. He had worked for her for about 6 months, and I didn't like the way he was always, around her. I mean, he acted like he was interested in her, and didn't care if she was married or not. He wanted her; I saw it in his eyes. Well, some time later, I had to leave town on a business conference. She was suppose to join me, but they had a hot prospect to look at a house that would have paid a commission in the neighborhood of around 10,000 dollars. They sold the house and went out to get a bite to eat, to celebrate. Well, he slipped her something. I don't have any proof, but I know he did. He took pictures, very revealing picture of the two of them together in a hotel room."

"Blackmail?" Tracey asked.

"Yes," He said flatly. "When I got home the next afternoon, Caroline was in bed, sleeping. It was not like her to take a nap, so, I knew something was wrong. I woke her up, and she looked horrible, with dark circles under her eyes, a blank expression on her face, and she had a glassy look in her eyes. I thought she just had a cold, until HE showed up with the picture several days later."

"Blackmail," Nick said under his breath. 

"Yes," he replied. "I was ready to strangle him right there, but she stopped me. And to this day, I wish I had just said no."

"Why didn't you," Tracy asked. 

"Caroline convinced me, it would ruin both our careers. Little did we know that, that was just the start." She fired him some time later, but he kept coming back for more money and said if we didn't give him what he asked, he said he would expose, Caroline."

"But Blackmail, Mr. Taylor?" Nick replied. "You should have come to the police."

"I knew that the moment we agreed to it, but by that time, it was to late." 

"Ok, but when did your wife fire him?"

"She tried to keep him on, but it was becoming ever more difficult for her to be in the same room with him, because of the sexual tension. She was scared if she let him go he would let it all out, but finally I insisted she put an end to it and fire him. She reluctantly fired him, I would say 8 to 10 months ago, and both of us thought, actually expected him to expose the whole mess."

"But he didn't?"

"No. In fact, the demands for money stopped, at least for a while. Then several months later, it started back again," He said sighing. "We've paid him more than 50,000 dollars, but still, he wanted more. But we ran out of money, or at least the kind of money he wanted. Our only other hope financially, was to up our insurance policies."

"You upped your policies? To what," Nick asked.

"Both policies, from 50,000 to 1,000,000.00."

"What," Tracy said, shocked. "I have to tell you, Mr. Taylor, this does not look good for you."

"I can see why you would say that Detective Vetter, because we thought the same thing ourselves when I was hospitalized, just days after we changed the policies. I knew Caroline would be suspect if I had died, and we decided to cancel both policies. She cancelled them the following Monday. We called our agent yesterday when I got back home from the hospital and made an appointment for the day after tomorrow, to arrange for new policies," He said sighing and crying slightly.

"You mean, she didn't have any life insurance when she died?" Tracy asked.

"Not a cent," he said with a half smile, then his expression turned solemn. 

"We will need to confirm this with your Insurance Company. Who was the policy holder?" Nick asked.

"Toronto Life and Causality, the one on 2nd street. Please feel free to call them, to verify it." His eyes then filled up with tears, and turned to Nick. "Please Detective, find out who could have done this horrible thing to my Caroline. And if you find out is was Silas, I hope you put him away for good." He looked down at his shoes, then looked back up to look Nick in the eyes. "You think he did, don't you?"

"He is a suspect, because of what you and Mike told us. We're going to see him, as soon as we finish here."

"And we're sorry, "Tracy added, "To have to ask you the personal questions we have had to ask, but…"

"I know, Detective. And if it will find Caroline's killer, you can ask me anything, and I don't care, how personal."

Nick placed his hand on Andrew's shoulder, then said, "Don't worry Mr. Taylor. We WILL find out who did this to your wife. You have my word on it." 

"Thank you," Mr. Taylor said, quietly.

Nick and Tracy were at their own desks in the squad room, hanging up their phones, about to tell the other the information they just received, when their train of thought was directed at Reese's office door. "Knight, Vetter, my office." Captain Reese said. They both walked into his office and stood in front of his desk. "How did the interview go with Andrew Taylor?" Reese asked.

"I guess all right, Capt." Tracy said. I really don't think he killed his wife. He was way to distraught."

"Me neither. But for other reasons," Nick added. Reese looked up to Nick, moving his eyebrows up and down. "I noticed he was very weak, when he shook my hand. He told us he was released from Montreal General Hospital yesterday, for food poisoning, and Tracy…"

"Yes, I called them earlier and he was released from there yesterday. They also confirmed he would still be weak for at least 3 to 4 more weeks." 

"Yes," Nick added. "He barely made it to a chair in the interview room, without collapsing. And I just talked to several of Caroline Taylor's employee's, and they verified she took yesterday off, to go to Montreal and pick up her husband."

"You know what this means?" Reese said. "We don't have a suspect."

"Actually, I think we do," Nick replied. "The guard at the 500 Building and Mr. Taylor, both mentioned someone, a former employee by the name of Silas Jones, who was fired. And he has no proof, but Mr. Taylor believes he drugged her around a year ago, then took some compromising pictures of the two of them together."

"Ah!" Reese said, then added, "Blackmail. Do you believe him?"

"I don't know about either of it," Nick said. "But two people have told me how nasty a human being Silas Jones, is. That's not a good enough reason for me arrest him, but it does makes me suspicious." 

"Ok," Reese responded. "But did Taylor have a motive?"

"He said they upped their life insurance polices from 50,000 to 100.000.00, but cancelled them two weeks ago, and had an appointment with their agent two days from now, to make up new policies." Nick replied.

"But, do you believe him," Reese asked.

"I just got off the phone with his insurance company, and it's true on all accounts," Tracy added.

"What about, Silas Jones." Reese said, as he looked over to Nick. 

Tracy again, spoke. "I did some checking. He is or was really in debt, to the tune of more than $50,000. And that debt has begun to be erased over the last 6 months or so."

"Oh," Reese said. "He was relying on the blackmail money to get himself out of debt, and if so, why did he kill her, if he was finally out of dept?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I'm at a lose, Capt., but I'm certain we will come up with an idea as to why, after we talk to Jones. We're heading there next."

"Ok," Reese said. "Go both of you, but we need to find out who did it. And I hope we're not dealing with a ser…"

Nick and Tracy both interrupted his last word with, "We hope not either, Capt.," They both said together, as they walked out of his office. 

Nick, who had a frown on his face, walked over to his desk, and sat down, when the phone began to ring. When he picked up the phone, he said, "Knight here." His frown disappeared and was then replaced with a big smile. "Hi, Nat." He replied into the phone.

Tracy, who was just sitting down at her desk, noticed his changed expression, and said to herself, 'Must be Nat.'

Still smiling, Nick said, "Nat? I thought you weren't talking to me."

"Sorry, Nick," Nat's voice said from the phone. "I had a dream a couple of days ago that really shook me up." A lot of noise could be heard coming from the background of the phone. "I'm sorry I took it out on you, but it really got me thinking about our relationship. We really need to talk about it, but not over the phone."

"If it upset you that much, maybe we should talk about it." Nick's ear was to the handset, and he moved his eyebrows up and down. "Nat where are you? And don't tell me at the office, unless your 'Clients' are having a party. And if so, I would really like to be at that party," He said with a laugh. 

"No," Nat said giggling slightly. "I took my supper break a little early. I had something I needed to pick up at the Mall."

"The Mall? Well, yes, that would not be a very good place for you to talk to me about, what we need to talk about."

"Actually, not over the phone. Period."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"I'd love to come over to the loft this morning to talk, but I have a date with a friend from college, right after my shift. But, how about tomorrow? I have the night off."

"Sounds good to me, because I have the night off too. I'll call you tomorrow and let you know when to come by." Now whispering into the receiver, he replied, "And Nat? Don't think I would not miss you if we never saw each other again. Because, I would miss you terribly."

"Thanks Nick," Nat replied with a lilt in her voice. "I really needed to hear that. See you later."

He hung up the phone, with a big smile on his face. Tracy was waving her hand in front of his face. "Earth, to Nick. Earth, to Nick. Nick?"

"What? Sorry I was talking to Nat," He said grinning. "What did you say?"

"I said, don't you think we need to go?"

"Where?" He said a little confused.

"Silas Jones?" Tracey said a little exasperated. "Nick? What is with you?" Whispering, "If I didn't know better, I would swear you're in love."

He looked at her with a shocked expression on his face. "No, Tracy. We are just friends." 

"Yeah, Right," Tracy replied. "You can say that all you want, but you can never make me or anyone else in this Precinct believe that."

He sighed deeply, knowing she was right. He had to tell Nat how he felt about her, before he lost her. "Trace? Let's talk about this later. Right now, we have a case to solve."

Inside Silas Jones' own Real Estate Agency, Tracy and Nick were sitting down in front of his desk, writing down notes. "Mr. Jones," Nick asked. "We understand you used to work for Caroline Taylor?"

He bowed his dead down. "Yes, I was really upset, when I heard about her death. I respected her as an employer and as a friend. The news only said, she had died. But if homicide is involved, you must think she was murdered."

"Yes," Nick said. "That is why we are here. We understand you worked for Mrs. Taylor but quit about 8 months ago?"

"I did not quit," He said between clinched teeth. "Her husband," he said sneering, "Was jealous of me and demanded she fire me."

"Mr. Taylor had you fired," Tracy added. "Did he have a reason to be jealous?" 

"Well, if you're asking me this, then you already know. Yes, she and I did have an affair." He rose from the chair behind his desk and walked to the window, then walked back to the chair and sat down, then looked Nick in the eyes. "You think I killed her, don't you? Well, I did not. If anyone had a reason, it was her slime of a husband. He did it for the money. I know it."

"What money, Mr. Jones," Tracy said. "They were almost broke." 

"Yes, but did you find our about the million dollar insurance policy he took out on her? That's motive enough for me," He said, implying Nick and Tracy weren't doing their job, if they didn't know about it.

"Well, " Nick added. "We know about it, because Mr. Taylor told us about it."

"Then why," He said angrily, "Are you harassing me, when he had the motive and the opportunity?"

He may have had the opportunity," Nick replied. "But the motive? That's another story."

"Excuse me? He inherits a million dollars, and you think that's not a motive?"

"Well," Tracy added. "It would be, if they didn't cancel both policies, almost 2 weeks ago."

"They what!" Jones said, his mouth falling open, with the shock of what Tracy had just said.

"Yes," Nick said, "So, we have to follow all leads, and one of them leads us to you, since you had an affair with the deceased."

"Well, you may want to talk to Andrew again. When he found out about our affair, he went ballistic and beat her up, on more than one occasion. She called me up just last week, because he beat her up so badly, she was black and blue."

"What day was this," Tracy asked.

"I believe this past Monday."

Tracy looked down at her notes. "We don't show any doctor's reports…"

"No, she would never do that to him. She loved him; Lord knows why. He is a monster. He killed her for revenge, because of me. I know it. So, why is he not under arrest?"

"We have to have proof, and we don't have any. But I assure you, when we get the evidence, the person responsible will be arrested," Nick said assureingly, looking Jones directly in the eyes, letting Jones know, he knew he was responsible for Caroline Taylor's death. 

Jones, who had been in the area behind his desk the whole time they were there, rose from his chair, and led them to the door. Nick took a short look at Jones's shoes. They were fine leather loafers, 'at least a size twelve,' he said to himself.

"I hope," Silas said, "You find the person responsible."

"We will, Mr. Jones. We will," Nick said. As they were about to exit the door, Nick looked down at Silas' shoes, and asked, "Mr. Jones? I know this is not a time to talk about shoes, but I just noticed yours. I've been trying to find a pair just like those in town, but I can't seem to find any in my size. "Do you mind if I ask, where you got them?"

"I have to special order them from a place in the states. I have a hard time finding shoes in my size in Toronto, too. In fact, a size 12 quadruple E, is hard to find anywhere, unless you do, special order them." He walked over to his desk and wrote down something on a piece of paper, then walked back over to Nick. "You won't be disappointed. They do excellent work."

"Thank you," Nick said. "I'll call them." With that, he and Tracy left the office.

As they made their way to the Caddy, Tracy looked over at Nick with a little agitation on her face. "Do you mind telling me what that was all about?"

"He killed her, Tracy."

"There is no way you could have figured that out, from our conversation…"

"Yes I can, Trace. The autopsy. Remember what Nat said about those bruises? They were no more than a couple of days old. And he said she called him last week and told him her husband beat her up. How could that be, when Andrew Taylor was in a hospital out of town?"

"I see your point about that, but what was that all about with his shoes?"

"Again, Nat. She said the boots the assailant wore, were a size twelve. I had to find a way for him to tell me what size shoes he wears, without raising his suspicion."

"I see your point, and I believe you're right. So, now what?" 

"I'm certain I put something in his head, right before we left; planting the evidence to implicate Taylor in the death of his wife."

He took his cell phone out of his jacket, and dialed a number. "Capt.? I think Silas Jones killed her and I need to get a tail on him. Evidence? No. Suspicion? Yes. Well, he told us Caroline Taylor called him last week and said her husband beat her up. Yes, there is something wrong. Have you read the autopsy report about the bruises on her body? Well what he said, doesn't correspond to Nat's findings. Another thing, Andrew Taylor was in the hospital at that time. Jones also wears a size twelve shoe, the same size shoe believe to be worn by the assailant. He killed her Capt. I don't know why, but I have a feeling we are about to find out. Yes, we're going back to Taylor's house to talk to him again." Nick hung up the phone and put the car in drive.

"I'm guessing," Tracy said. "The gun that killed Caroline Taylor, is mysteriously going to materialize somewhere, only Andrew Taylor would have access too?" 

"I believe so, so I think we need to talk to Taylor, Again."

Nick and Tracy were sitting on the sofa in the den of the Taylor home, and Mr. Taylor, who had a somber expression on his face was sitting down in a chair, his exhausted expression, now, even more obvious. "I don't know what more I can tell you, Detectives," He said sadly.

"Well," Nick said, nervously. "I know this is going to be hard for you to hear or answer, but I have to ask. Did you ever abuse your wife?"

"No!" He said venomously. "Who…? That sleaze Silas Jones, told you that, didn't he?"

"Yes. Why would he lie about it?" Nick asked.

"Jealously, is the only thing I can think of; of our money or maybe our relationship together."

"Ok, Mr. Taylor. Now we have that out of the way, do you have some place you can go to be by yourself, that no one except close friends would know about?"

"Well, Caroline's office has," the expression on his face turning somber again. "I mean, had a small cottage we often used to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city noise. Why?"

"We do believe he killed your wife. We don't know why, but he is or was really in dept, and the money you've given him, just wouldn't cut it. And it's possible he wanted to get his hands on your insurance money too; how he planned to do this is a mystery, but I think it is a possibility."

Mr. Taylor shivered. "You think he's going to plant the…"

"Yes," Nick interrupted. "What is the address of the cottage?" Mr. Taylor handed Nick a piece of paper. Nick looked down at it, then took his cell phone out of his jacket pocket. He rose and dialed a phone number, then walked into the foyer.

Talking quietly into the phone, Nick said, "Capt.? Send a forensics team at once to 121 Marigold Lane. Yes. It's the address of a cottage the Taylor's used for a getaway, and I'm sure that's where Silas Jones is heading and going to plant evidence. Ok. And did you get a tail on Jones? He did? Have any idea where he's heading yet? Ok, we'll call you back after we get in the car." 

Nick closed the receiver on his cell phone, then walked back into the den. He saw the expression on Andrew Taylor's pale face the minute he entered the room and went straight to him and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry Mr. Taylor, we will catch him."

"Thank you, Detective," he said, as his eyes filled up with tears. He then escorted them both to the door.

Back in the Caddy, Nick dialed a phone number. "Capt.? Do you know where Jones is heading yet?"

"Just like you thought," Reese said from the phone. "Murdock and Wilson are on the tail, and he seems to be heading in the direction you thought. Toward Marigold Lane."

"What about forensics?"

"Don't worry about that, it's covered. The forensics team should have finished a few minutes ago."

"Thanks Capt. I'll get them on the radio."

Tracy already had the mike in her hand, and radioing Murdock and Wilson. "23 Gamma, 23 Gamma. This is Vetter, at 81 Kilo. Please respond."

"Hi Knight, Vetter," a voice said from the mike. "We have the suspect in our view. He's heading toward the Taylor cottage, just like you suspected."

"Yes," Tracey replied. "Be careful, he is dangerous." Nick took the mike from Tracy and talked into it. "And, call for backup. He has a gun, and we believe he's' already killed once."

"Ok, Nick. I hear you."

Tracy and Nick made it to the Taylor cottage, exited the car, and then walked over to a group of officers. "What do you have, Murdock," Nick asked.

"He's barricaded himself in. He has a gun. It looks like a Colt, but I can't be certain." 

"We'll, it's not the murder weapon, then," Tracy said. "It was a Magnum, wasn't it Nick?"

Nick shook his head up and down, to agree. "Tracy, you stay here with Murdock. I'm going to try to talk some since into him."

"Nick, you can't…"

"I'll be fine Trace. I've done this before. Somehow, I have a way with these types of things."

Tracy was about to protest, when Murdock butted in. "He's right Tracy. He does. I don't know how he does it, but he's a whiz at hostage and this type of situation." He'll be fine."

Nick began to walk toward the cottage. "Jones? This is detective Knight. Can we talk?"

"What do you want," Came the reply from Jones, from behind the door.

"Just to talk," Was Nick's only reply.

"No. You want to kill me."

"No," Nick replied. "I do not. I just want to talk." He took his gun from his holster and laid it on the ground. "I've just put my gun on the ground. I am unarmed. Will you allow be to enter, now?"

"Ok, but no funny business, or I kill you and your friends."

"Ok," Nick said as he walked toward the Cottage. As he entered the door and the door closed behind him, Jones frisked him, then waved his gun in Nick's face. "Ok, Mr. Jones. Why are you here?"

"Looking for evidence, of course," He said matter of factly. 

"What evidence?"

"The evidence that Andrew Taylor, killed Caroline. And I found it." Jones walked to the sofa, with his gun still aimed at Nick, and moved the first cushion up, to reveal a gun. "A Magnum. See? He killed her, just like I said. Here is the evidence. Arrest him."

"We cannot do that," Nick replied.

"Why not? He's in someone's pocket. Is that it?"

"You can think what you wish, but this Cottage was searched by forensics 30 minutes ago. And guess what? There wasn't any evidence. Why did you plant it, and why did you kill her?"

"I did not. I found the evidence! See?" As he pointed to the gun still on the sofa.

"But you planted it," Nick said flatly.

Jones placed the gun to Nick's right temple. "I wouldn't say that to someone who has a gun to your head."

"Look at me, Jones." Jones turned to look at Nick. Nick concentrated on Jones' heartbeat. "You will put your gun down and hand the gun to me, then place your hands in the air above you head." Jones obeyed, and Nick grabbed his arms from behind and placed the cuffs on him. "You are under arrest for the murder of Caroline Taylor."

"I did not kill her! I did not!"

"I say you did, and planting evidence to place the blame on someone else, makes you look mighty guilty."

"My fingerprints are no where on that gun!"

"Imagine that," Nick said sneering. "But I bet Andrew Taylor's prints are not on it either."

Jones just began to stutter.

"That's what I thought," Nick said, as he pushed Jones through the door.

Tracy saw them and looked shocked. "I don't know how it does it."

"Neither do I," Murdock said. "But like I said, he has a way with these types of situations."

Nick walked over to Murdock and Wilson, and handed Jones to Wilson, Murdock's partner. "Here's the suspect. Can you and Murdock take him to the station? Trace and I have a few things we need to do here before we leave." 

"No, problem," Wilson said. "We'll see you there. He and Murdock began to walk toward their car with Jones, when Nick called for Wilson again.

"Wilson!" Wilson turned around to look at Nick, who was walking back toward him. 

"Yeah Nick?" Wilson said as he turned around to look at Nick, who was now in front of him again. "What can I do for you?"

"I forgot to ask, who did the search on the premises, earlier?"

"Oh," he said half-laughing, "Sorry. That would be, Clark and Granger." Nick patted Wilson on the shoulder, then turned around and walked over to two other officers.

"Hi, Nick," one of then said. "What can we do for you?"

"Yeah, Granger. The two of you did the search, earlier?"

"Yes we did. "Why?"

"Did you check everything?"

"Yes, we did." Clark interrupted. "Every square inch, and no stone was left unturned."

"How about between the mattresses?"

"Yes," Granger Replied. "Between the mattresses, inside the mattresses, between the sofa cushions, inside the sofa cushions, and even the back of the toilet bowls. Every possible hiding place was check and there was no gun, anywhere."

"Thanks. That's all I needed to know. I have a feeling he's going to deny all of it, even thought we have the proof he did it."

"Well, there is one sure fire way to find out; Fingerprints," Granger replied.

"I thought about that, but I'm sure he wiped the gun clean."

"Maybe," Clark replied. "But not being in forensics, Nick, you wouldn't think to check the prints on the bullets still in the chamber. We'll go over the Cottage again and check the gun and the bullets and let you know what we find out, when we get back to the Precinct."

Back at the precinct, Nick and Reese were interrogating Jones, in the interrogation room. But it seemed Nick was doing all of the interrogating, biding his time until Tracy showed up with the rest of the reports from Nat and Forensics. 

Well-dressed local attorney, Judith Padgett, was representing Jones.

"Mr. Jones," Nick asked. "Why did you kill Caroline Taylor?" Jones did not respond. "I asked you a question, Mr. Jones."

"He said he did not do it," Judith replied. "And you have no proof. And besides, he said he found the murder weapon in the Taylor's Cottage. It seems to me, you should be interrogating Andrew Taylor, instead of my client."

"WE have no proof against Andrew Taylor, but plenty against your client."

"You do not," Jones replied.

Nick turned toward Judith. "That Cottage was searched by the forensics team of Clark and Granger, 30 minutes before your client got there; there were not a gun in it before, but somehow magically appeared after your client got there. There is only one explanation. He planted the evidence. And on top of all this, he knew the murder weapon was a Magnum, a fact that was not even told to the press. The only people who would know this piece of information, would be the police, and the Murderer."

"You have no real proof. Everything you have is circumstantial. When you come up with some real proof, which I doubt you can do…" Judith began to say, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Excuse me a second," Nick said, as he opened the door. Tracy was standing there with several folders in her hands. Nick walked out the door, into the squad room.

"What you got Trace?"

She motioned for him to come over to her desk with her. He obeyed, and she laid the folders open on her desk. "Ok. Forensics just got back from his place. His walls were covered with pictures of her. They also found a worn out pair of red cowboy boots covered with blood, along with a pile of black clothing in his hamper, and get this. The black gloves they found with clothes, had blood on them, too."

"Was the blood hers?"

"Yep."

"What about the other evidence?"

"Well," She said grinning. "I just got back from the morgue. Nat verified the fiber evidence she collect from Caroline Taylor, were in fact from the clothes we found at Jones' place, and the pubic hairs she found on her body, belongs to Silas Jones, also."

"And the fingerprints?"

"Forensics just got back with that, just a minute ago. His fingerprints were the only prints found on all the bullets still in the gun, the spent cartridge found at the scene and the remainder of the bullet found inside Caroline Taylor's body. And on top of all this, they also found a drawer full of ID's with his picture on them. But the odd thing is, they were all issued to different names, and in various cities in Canada, and the States."

"That is a little odd, and it reminds me of what Reese said earlier tonight about a serial killer. And now, I'm beginning to wonder if Silas Jones, is actually Silas Jones, or if that name is another alias, also."

"No, his name is Silas Jones; his finger prints conform that, and he was born here in Toronto."

Nick smiled and said, "You sure have been busy." 

"You can say that again, and I don't have to remind you, you were right about Silas Jones, all along."

"Thanks for believing me and waiting on the reports, while I did the interrogating."

"Well, I'm still new at it, and you do have a knack for it."

"Yeah, well, you will too, just give it time." He said smiling. "Now, to get back to business. I shouldn't be but ten more minutes. And I don't know about you, but I would really like to get out of here at a descent hour for a change. So, why don't you start the report and when I'm finished with the interrogation, I can add what I find out in there," He said, as he pointed to the interrogation room.

"That sounds like a plan I would really like," she said as she sat down at her desk. "But what do you think we need to do about all of the Id's we found at Jones'?"

"We can't find out most of the information we need this late at night." 

"Yeah you're right," She said yawning. "Are you going to tell Jones and his Lawyer about this information?"

"Not yet. It's just speculation right now. When we begin to investigate all of the names he's gone by, then we tell him and his lawyer, what we find out. But, between you and me? He is a serial mur…"

"Murderer," Tracy said interrupting. Nick then shook his head up and down to agree. Yep," Tracy continued. "I was thinking that myself."

"Ok, now we have that settled, I'll go and tell Jones and his Lawyer the bad news," He said with a smile. He then, walked back to the interrogation room. 

As he entered the room, he said, "Silas Jones? You are under the arrest for the murder of Caroline Taylor."

"Wait a minute," Judith said. "Am I missing something? Like maybe proof?"

"Oh, we have plenty."

"You do not," Jones said harshly. He rose and was about to walk toward Nick, but Reese, who didn't like the look in his eyes, pushed him back into his chair. "You will stay where you are, Mr. Jones and listen to what the detective has to say, or I will be forced to hand cuff you myself. Do you understand?"

Jones promptly sat back down in his chair, next to his lawyer. Reese smiled at Nick, and gestured for Nick to continue. 

Nick grinned at Reese, then looked directly at Jones, and Judith, and replied, "We have more than enough." 

"Explain?" Judith said.

"First, we have the fact he planted the evidence, and we just got back the forensics report."

"And?"

"And your client is in deep, I mean, real deep."

"Please explain, what you mean my deep," She said curtly. 

"Ok. His fingerprints were found on the bullets still in the chamber of the gun used to kill Caroline Taylor, the bullet found in her body, and the spent cartridge found at the murder scene."

"This is all circumstantial, and he can not be held…"

"There, is more, Ms. Padgett, lots more." She moved her head for him to continue. "Caroline Taylor's blood was found on the boots and gloves we found in his home, and the black clothes we found in his clothes hamper, matches the fiber evidence that was found on Caroline Taylor's body. This also matches the information we received from our witness who saw someone dressed all in black behind the trash can at the door of the North entrance of the 500 Building."

"This is still all circumstantial," she interrupted again.

"Yes, but there is still more," Nick replied. "And is the most damaging evidence we have against your client."

Reese was still sitting in his chair to the side of Jones and his lawyer, admiring the ease at which Nick, was conducting himself. He had only known Nick a little over 6 months, but he had learned early on, you listen to his intuition, and this case was one of them. He couldn't figure out how someone as young as Nick could have acquired it without being at the detective business at least as long as he had, but he wasn't complaining, as long as he put the bad guy's behind bars.

"Which is," Judith asked Nick. 

"Well," Nick replied, a little smugly. "Forensics found foreign pubic hairs on Mrs. Taylor's body, and guess what? They belonged to your client, and no one but your client. And if this is not convincing enough, you client's apartment is plastered with pictures of Caroline Taylor. Like I said, we have more than enough for a conviction."

I did not kill her. Her husband did. He beat her up…"

"Yes," Judith said. "He told me, she called him just last week and told him her husband beat her up. That would make him a suspect, in my book," she said coldly.

"Yes, it would, if it weren't for the fact that Andrew Taylor was in a hospital in Montreal, a victim of food poisoning, during this supposed beating your client clams Andrew Taylor inflicted on his wife. He is also, according to his doctor, way to thin and weak from his hospital stay, to inflict the injuries, Caroline Taylor acquired tonight." And," He said half-smiling, "What leads me to believe your client killed her, is all the evidence we have against him."

"I didn't do it, and you can't prove it!"

"We just did," Nick replied. "And now, I want to know, why?" 

"I want a jury trial, because I didn't do it. Her husband did, and I found the gun he used to do it."

"But you planted it." 

I did not! He did it, and I'll prove it in court. A jury will not believe I could ever hurt her! But if they saw her husband, they will know what kind of slime he is, and will find me innocent," He ranted.

"Ok," Nick said. But it's your funeral." He turned to Judith, and whispered in her ear. "We have the proof, he killed her. A jury will come up with the same conclusion, and you know it. You better talk some since into your client. His chances are not good. If he confess…"

"I will advice him of the best choice of action, thank you Detective," she said angrily.

Nick nodded his head, then opened up the door for the interrogation room, and motioned for the uniformed officer that was stationed outside the door, to take Jones to the holding cell. 

Back at his desk, about to sit down to write his report, Tracy asked. "Well, how did it go?"

He flopped down in the chair at his desk, then looked at her with a half grin. "Denied it of course, but I expected it. Also demanded a jury trial. Can you believe it?"

"You're kidding. With the evidence we have against him? He doesn't have a chance. I hope his lawyer can talk some since into him."

"Me too," Nick replied. "Now, how far did you get on the report?"

"Almost finished," she said proudly, as she pushed the report to his desk. Nick picked it up and was about to begin writing, when he noticed a square wrapped package on his desk. "What's this," He asked.

"Sorry, I almost forgot. Nat dropped it off and asked me to make sure you got it."

He took it in his hands, and read the attached note to himself:

Nick:

Do not open until you get home this

morning. Then, please listen to 

track # 3. I just need to know.

Love Nat.

Tracy leaned over her desk, and curiously waited for him to open it up. "Well," she said. "Aren't you going to open it up so I can see what she gave you?"

"Sorry, Trace, but she left a note and specifically asked me not to open until I get home, and I intend to comply," He said as he placed the note and the package into his jacket pocket.

"Men," Tracy said with a scowl.

"What?"

"Nothing," She said smiling.

Nick smiled up at her, then lowered his head down, concentrating on the report. 

"Thirty minutes later, Nick rose from his chair, with the report in his hand. He walked over to Reese's office, and knocked on the door. "Capt.? I've got the report finished."

"Thanks Nick," Reese said as he took it from him. "By the way, where is your partner? Didn't she help you with this?"

"She wrote most of the top part. And to answer your second question, she went to ask Nat something. We're about to sign out, unless you need us for anything else."

"Nothing at the moment, but if we need you, we will call. See you tomm…I forgot you have tomorrow night off. So, see you then." Nick smiled at Reese, then turned around and left the door.

Nick emerged from the lift of the loft, almost exhausted. He began to walk up the stairs to the 2nd floor toward his bedroom, when he remembered Nat's gift was still in his jacket pocket, pulling it out, as he walked back down to the 1st floor. 

He opened it up, to reveal a CD. He turned it around to look at the title selection, and the # Nat wanted him to listen too. "When Will I See You Again," By 'The Three Degrees.' Ok, Nat. What are you trying to tell me?" He said sighing. He then walked over to the stereo, placed the CD into the CD Player and sat down in his chair, as the music filled the room.

Hooha

Hahoo

Precious Moments

When will I see you again?

When will we share precious moments?

Will I have to wait forever, will I have to suffer (Suffer)

And cry the whole night through?

When will I see you again?

When will our hearts beat together?

Are we in love or just friends?

Is this my beginning, or is this the end?

When will I see you again?

When will I see you again?

When will I see you again?

Hahoo

Precious Moments

Are we in love or Just friends?

Is this my beginning, or is the end. (Is this the end?)

When will I see you again?

When will I see you again? (Sweet, Sweet lover.)

When will I see you again? (Come on, Come on)

When will I see you again? (Tell me, yeah)

When will I see you again?(My sweet, love, oh, yeah)

When will I see you again? (Come on, come on)

When Will I see you again? (Tell me, yeah)

"Oh, Nat," Nick said aloud. "I though you would know by now. I love you. What am I going to do? I can't lose you, Nat. I love you more than anything."

He got down on his knees, and did something he had not done in years. He prayed.

"Lord, I know I have no right to ask you this. I turned my back on you, long ago. I've tried to atone for my sins for so long, and I'm beginning to believe I may never get back into your good graces again, but I'm not talking to you for myself. I'm talking to you about Natalie. She loves me, and I can not show her how I feel, and she's at her wits end because I can not trust myself to be alone and intimate with her, for fear the Vampire in me will kill her, or make her what I am. I love her too much, to ever make her what I am. To loose her humanity. To lose You. And yes, I do love her, more than anyone I have ever known. I would do anything to make her happy, but confessing my love to her scares me to death, because I'm scared I will hurt her, and not to mention the Enforcers or my bargain with LaCroix, about Fleur. Lord, again I know I have no right to ask you this, but please give me a sign that telling her how I feel about her, is the right thing to do. A sign, to tell me it is the right thing to do, in your eyes. I don't know what kind of sign, but one you know I will know when I see it. Thank you for listening to me, Lord."

The moment he opened his eyes, he was aware of a presence, in the loft. Thinking it was LaCroix, he turned around, his eyes golden and his fangs extended to say something, but he stopped in his tracks; it was two Enforcers. But, he was somewhat shocked. Their eyes were not golden or even red, and their fangs were not extended. "From your look," Nick said, as his fangs receded back into his gums, and his eyes turned back to blue, "I am guessing, this is not for business."

"Yes, but not what you are thinking, Nicholas," One of them said. "We have just come from LaCroix, and he is not pleased with something we told him."

'Oh,' Nick said to himself. 'LaCroix not pleased with something? What are the odds.' He thought, snickering to himself. "What did you tell him?"

We are on a mission from the Ancients. We are to inform all of our kind, about Natalie Lambert."

A look of shock appeared on Nick's face, and his fangs extended and his eyes turned golden again.

It's not what you think Nicholas," The other Enforcers said. "This is actually good news for you and Ms. Lambert. Because of the sacrifices she has made for our kind over the last couple of years and the fact she is responsible for the cure that saved all of our lives, she is now, protected by us." Nick's fangs recede back into his gums, and his eyes went back to blue. "And, this does include LaCroix, and the bargain you made with him so many years ago, about your sister. He can not harm her, or he knows the consequences. He will be eliminated by us. She and all of her family are protected for eternity."

"I can see why LaCroix did NOT like that," Nick replied.

"Yes, but be warned. She is protected, as long as she does not betray us. Anyone who does this, mortal or Vampire, will be eliminated."

"She will not, I can guarantee that. She has protected us, often, in more ways than anyone of our own kind has ever done." 

"Yes. LaCroix was not happy that he could not deal with Ms. Lambert, but he has agreed to leave her alone. Now, it is about you."

"What?" Nick replied.

"He will now come after you. We can not protect you from him. You have disobeyed your master. Your only chance is to…"

"What," Nick asked a little confused.

"Become a part of Ms. Lambert's family."

"Excuse me? How can I…"

"I believe you will think of something," Both of them said, as they made their retreat from the loft.

"Part of her family," Nick said mumbling to himself. 

"How…Marriage," He said under his breath. He walked over to the phone, and dialed a number, only to get, "You have reached Carlton Jewelry. Our hours of operation are 9am-10pm…" He hung up the phone, and dialed another number, getting Nat's recorder. 

"Nat? I understood the message you wanted me to get from the CD. You are right; we really do need to talk, about a lot of things. I would really love to see you tonight, because I just found out some terrific news, and I can't wait to share it with you. I hope we can get a lot of things between us straightened out then. So, dinner will be served at the loft at 8:00pm, but please be here at 7:30, turn on the CD player, and listen to track # 9. This is my answer to you. Sorry for the lateness, but I have a few errands to run, before I can get back. See you then. By Nat."

Natalie was sitting in the den of her apartment, when the answering machine cut off from Nick's message. Her eyes were full of tears. Not tears of despair, but tears of joy. "Oh, Nick! Are you telling me what I want to hear?"

She walked into the bedroom, opened up her closet, and pulled out her most sexy dress. A low cut sequined gown, with spaghetti straps. She hung it on the door of the closet, then walked over to the bed where Sydney was busy giving himself a through washing, sat down next to him, and patted him on the head. "Well, Sydney, looks like I may be staying with Nick, tonight. So, don't you think I better be prepared?" Sydney looked up to her, purred, then went back to his washing. Nat patted him on the head again as she rose from the bed, then walked to her dresser. She pulled a tote bag from the bottom drawer, then opened up the top drawer of the dresser. She took out several pairs of underwear, bras, panty hose, pajamas, jeans and finally several sweatshirts and placed them neatly into the tote bag. Then she crawled into bed, with a large smile across her face.

Nick woke up in the middle of the day. He walked downstairs and headed to the fridge and opened it up, but for some odd reason, he didn't want the contents. 'In fact," He said to himself, 'I haven't wanted or even needed IT for a couple of days.' He shook his head in disbelief, then closed the fridge door and walked over to the phone and dialed a phone number to hear, "Hello, Carlton Jewelry. This is Steve. How may I help you?" 

"Yes, this is Nicholas Knight. You are sizing and engraving a bridal set for me. I need to know, if you have them ready yet?"

"One moment, Mr. Knight. Let me check…Not at the moment, but it will be ready by 6:00 tonight."

"Thank you, Steve. I will be there at 6:00 on the dot. Please be sure it is ready by then."

"Sure thing, Mr. Knight," Steve replied from the phone. Nick then hung up the phone, and dialed another number.

"Hello? Riverdale Florist? This is Nicholas Knight. I would like a single red rose delivered to Ms. Natalie Lambert this afternoon, to 1201 Washington Street, Apartment 6A. The card should read Nat, 'Never doubt that I care. Love, Nick.' And, I will also need 6 dozen red roses ready, by 7:30 tonight. Don't worry about delivering them. I will pick then up, myself."

Later that afternoon, Nat was walking in the den of he apartment, in her slip and hose with her hair in curlers, apparently getting ready for her evening with Nick, when there was a knock on her door. It startled her slightly, wondering who would be calling; she thought at first, it might be Nick wanting to start their evening early. But when she saw the sun was still out, she knew it couldn't be him. 'So,' She thought to herself as she walked to the door, 'Who could it be?'

She placed her eye against the peephole, then asked, "Who is it?"

"Riverdale florist," Came the response from the other side of the door. "I have a delivery for a Natalie Lambert?"

"Yes, That's me. Ok, I'll be with you in a minute." She walked into her bedroom, then returned wearing her fluffy pink robe. She walked back to the door and opened it and was presented with one perfect red rose. She closed the door and read the attached card to herself, then said aloud, "I love you too, Nick." She then walked back into her bedroom.

Later on that evening, Nick was a little early at the Mall. He already had a beautifully wrapped package under his arm, and finding he was still a little early for the Jewelry store, entered the card shop that was next door. While looking through the cards, he found an Anniversary card that literally said what his heart felt for Natalie. Even though she wasn't his wife yet, he was hopeful after tonight, she would agree to be.

As he read the card to himself:

Having you for a wife, means that

No mater how busy life happens to be,

No matter how complicated

The world becomes,

There's always a quiet place

Within me.

My heart

Remembers

You.

Having you for a wife feels

Like being in a favorite place,

Where I'm happy and comfortable,

Able to relax and be myself.

Every day, my heart

Comes home

To you.

Having you for a wife is

The deepest happiness I know…

And in years to come,

I hope to find many ways to tell you

How precious you are to me.

Forever and a day,

My heart belongs to you.

He bought the card and walked out of the card shop, when he began to smell something, delicious. He couldn't believe something besides blood, was calling him. And it was coming from the hot dog stand. 'Hot dogs! Could it be?' He thought to himself. He decided to take a chance and walked over to the stand and said, "One hot dog, please."

"What would you like on it?" 

"Just ketchup, please."

"Ok, that's $1.25." Nick gave him the money, and the employee gave him his hot dog. Nick placed it into his mouth, and he was in awe. Nick licked his lips, then said, "One more please, but this time add a little mustard, too."

Nick had his hot dog in his hand, as he headed to the Jewelry store. He finished it up, then entered. An employee walked over to him. "May I help you?"

"Yes. My name is Nick Knight. I'm here to pick up a ring you were sizing and engraving for me."

"Yes, I talked to you this morning," Steve said. "We just finished it. She must be very special if you would go to this much expense."

"Yes, she is," Nick replied. "She is worth it."

Steve walked behind the counter, pulled out a package and opened it up. Inside, was a beautiful bridal set. The wedding band and the engagement ring were shaped like a V, with the wedding band covered in tiny diamonds going around the ring. The engagement ring had a large stone in the middle, with two smaller stones to each side of it. "Please feel free to inspect it," Steve said. "To see if it meets with your approval."

Nick took the wedding ring out and read the inscription silently to himself. 'Natalie, the love of my life, with all my love, Nick.' A tear appeared in his eye. "It's perfect," Nick said, choking back the tears. Nick reached inside his pocket and pulled out his wallet and then his credit card.

Nick left the store, then began to walk out the door of the mall, when he remembered just two days earlier, when he was walking in this very Mall, and saw the most perfect wedding ring. It had Natalie written all over it. He knew the moment he saw it, he couldn't deny it in his heart any longer; his feelings for her. He had kept them hidden for so long, but he couldn't deny it any longer. She was the light in his otherwise dark world, and in 800 years, he had never met anyone who meant more to him. He was in love with her. Nothing would ever change the way he felt about her, and he would never hurt her or allow LaCroix to harm her. He would kill him if he did; he didn't care if killing your master was against the code. Without Natalie, he did not want to live. It was that simple. She, in just 6 short years, had become his reason for living, and he loved her like no other. He couldn't live without her, any more than she could live without him. But telling her could prove to be dangerous, well, until today. He had planned on telling her how he felt, and hoped she would understand that they couldn't let anyone else know. But now, it didn't matter. She was now safe from LaCroix and the community, and they could now have the life together they both had always dreamed of. And he was the happiest he had been, in a very long time.

He shook his head to come back to the present, and looked down at his watch. "6:45. I better get going if I'm going to get home in time." He walked to the Caddy, then headed in the direction of the Florist.

When Nick got close to the loft, he noticed Nat's car pulling up to the curb. He didn't want her to see him, so he parked his car up the road from the loft, until she disappeared into the door. 

He now drove in front of the loft, parked the Caddy in front of her car and quietly entered the door. He then made his way to the stairs, with the bouquet of roses and the package, with the card attached, in his hands. He stopped at the door to the entrance of the first floor of the loft, cracking it open, only slightly. When he saw her in her sequined gown, his breath caught in his throat. "Is my heart beating faster," He said under his breath. He shook his head in disbelief, then said to himself, sadly, 'Wishful thinking.'

He came back to reality, as he saw Nat pick up the note he had left on his CD Player, and she read it aloud. 

Nat,

#9, please. I'll be there at 8:00. 

Please listen to it, before I get 

there.

This is my answer to you,

Love, Nick

Nat turned the CD holder around, to see what song was listed for #9. "Love's Grown Deep," By Kenny Nolan," She said aloud. "I don't think I've heard this song before." She then hit the CD button, and advanced it to #9.

Tears began to run down Nick's cheek, when he heard the song begin. The tears were blood red, but not as dark as they had in the past.

The song began to fill the loft.

(I love you - so much)

Somewhere back in time,

You became a friend of mine,

And day by day we've grown a little closer.

You're my spirit to be strong,

A friend when things grow wrong,

So I've written down these words to let you knowwww…

Love's grown deep,

Deep into the heart of me,

You've become a part of me,

Let us plant the seed and watch it grow.

Love's grown deep,

Deep into the heart of me,

You've become a part of meeee…

As we travel down the road,

Side by side we'll share the load,

Hand in hand we'll see each other throughhhh…

Though we've only just begun,

Let's count our blessings one by one,

I thank God for life,

I thank God for youuuuu…

Love's grown deep,

Deep into the heart of me,

You've become a part of me,

Let us plant the seed and watch it grow.

Love's grown deep,

Deep into the heart of me,

You've become a part of meeee…

And as the seasons slip away,

Forever lovers we will stay,

Together do or die with all our hearrrrrts…

Love's grown deep,

Deep into the heart of me,

You've become a part of me,

Let us plant the seed and watch it growww…

Love's grown deep,

Deep into the heart of me,

You've become a part of meeee… 

As the song faded out, Nat began to sob. Nick opened the door quickly and was at her side in an instant. But Nat just sat in the chair, motionless. "Nick?" She said through tears, "What does this mean? At least for us?"

"It, means," He said as he caressed the side of her cheek, "I have loved you Natalie; for so long. I've never felt this way, about another living soul. Beyond my wildest fantasies, could I ever believe I could love anyone as much as I love you."

He reached over and took her in his arms and kissed her all over her face. 'And' he thought to himself, 'It's odd, I don't fell the Vampire. What is going on?'

"Nick," Nat asked. "Are you all right?" 

He smiled at her, then kissed her sensuously on the lips. "Yes," he replied breathlessly.

She looked him in the eyes, and for once in a very long time, she knew he was, all right. And something was different about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She poked him playfully in the ribs. "And I thought you said you would be here at 8:00, and not 7:30?"

He held her to him, and caressed the side of her cheek. "Well, something happened and I couldn't wait to share it with you."

"What?" She replied nervously. "Is he coming after you?"

"Nothing like that. I was in the Mall picking up something for you, when I passed a hot dog stand."

"And?" She said nervously.

"I ate two of them," He said proudly. "And, they were delicious!"

"Hot Dogs! You ate hot dogs!"

"Yes! Hot dogs. And, you may also want to know, I haven't wanted or even needed blood for almost 2 days."

She looked him in the eyes, then pulled him to her and hugged him hard. He broke from her and caressed the side of her cheek. "And If I am changing Nat, I want it to happen with you by my side. I can't think of anywhere I would rather be than with you and share this with you."

He covered her mouth with a very sensuous kiss, then walked over to the door and picked up the roses, then handed them to her.

"Oh, Nick. They're beautiful. Just a beautiful as the one you sent to my place, this afternoon," She said smiling. "How many are there, anyway?" She asked as she sniffed them and reveled in their wonderful fragrance.

"Six dozen."

"Why, six?" She asked a little confused.

"One dozen for every wonderful year you have been a part of my life, and," As he pulled her to him, "I have been in love with you, for just as long."

"What? Why have you decided…"

He caressed the side of her cheek, then cupped her chin in his hand and said softly, "I'll tell you in a minute. But know, I do love you, very much, Nat."

"I love you too, Nick, for almost as long," She replied getting a little nervous.

"I know," he said smiling.

"But, you said on my recorder, you needed to tell me something, really important?"

"Actually two things. The first is important but not as important as the second."

"Ok, what is it?"

"I had a visit from the Enforcers today."

"It must be good news, or you wouldn't still be here."

"Yes, it is," He said with a smile, then kissed her lightly on the lips. "You remember the cure for the fever you developed?" She shook her head up and down. "Well, because of your dedication to the community and your help in keeping our secrets safe, it has been declared you are protected by the Enforcers for eternity, along with your entire family."

"Really," she said smiling. "I bet LaCroix flipped his lid when he heard."

Laughing slightly, Nick replied, "I haven't seen him since this news hit, but the Enforcers who visited, said he was very upset, but he agreed to go along with the wishes of the Ancients. But," He said now becoming serious, "If he can't get to you, he will probably now, come after me."

"Oh, Nick," she said, as she threw her arms around his neck. "What are we going to do?"

"Both of the Enforcers came up with an idea; I didn't have the heart to tell them, I had already thought about it, two days ago."

"What," She asked curiously.

"First, sit down on the sofa, and close your eyes." She obeyed, and Nick pulled out the ring box from his pocket, got down on his knees in front of her and placed her hands in his. "Natalie, the moment I met you, my life changed for the better. You made a once cold heart, warm with love; maybe not at first, but I was very attracted to you from the moment I met you, but it took a little longer for me to know, actually admit to myself, I had fallen in love with you. You are my life, Natalie Lambert, and you will be my heart, forever."

"Nick, if I didn't know better, I would swear…" She opened her eyes, "Proposing." Nick opened the ring box at the same time as her eyes popped opened.

"Natalie Lambert, will you do me the honor of agreeing to become my wife," He asked, as he placed the engagement part of the ring, on her finger.

"Nick!" She said, as tears ran down her cheek, and she looked up to him. 

He shook his head up and down.

"Nick, this isn't what I expected, from the song. Just for you to tell me where our relationship was going; how you felt about me. A simple, 'I love you, Nat' would have been enough," She said half smiling, and wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Well," He said acting hurt, but grinning. "If you don't want to marry me, I can always give it to Jan…"

"Not on your life, buddy," she said, interrupting his sentence. "You asked me, remember? And the answer is, yes Nick. I love you with all my heart, and I can not think of anyone that I would rather spend the rest of my life with, than you. But, I have to ask you a question. If your life wasn't in danger, would you be asking me this question?"

Nick handed her the ring box, then pointed to the wedding band part of the ring. "Take a look at the inscription inside the wedding band, then ask me that question, again."

She took the ring out of the box, and read the inscription aloud. "Natalie, the love of my life, with all my love, Nick." Tears ran down her cheeks, then she hugged him hard. "It's beautiful, Nick. Just like our love." She looked up to him, and he kissed her on the lips. "I love you too, Nick." She fingered the engagement ring on her finger, then looked him in the eyes. "When did you decide to do this?"

He sat down on the sofa beside her and pulled her to him, her back leaning against his chest. He put his arms around her, and placed his cheek against her hair. "I was in the Mall a couple of days ago, and this ring," he said as he fingered the ring on her left hand, "Just screamed your name. I knew right then, I couldn't live without you. No matter what happened, I knew I had to tell you how I felt, even though we couldn't tell anyone how we felt, until I, we, could figure out what to do about LaCroix."

"Yes, but didn't we go through this already," She replied.

"What are you…You remember don't you?"

"Yes, Nick. You of all people," She said smiling, "Know you can't do that whammy thing on me."

"I didn't mean…"She stopped his sentence, with a caress of his cheek.

"I know, Nick. And after I met LaCroix, I understood everything you told me about him and the danger I was in, and why you had to pretend that Valentine's day didn't happen." He opened up his mouth to say something else, but she stopped him by placing her fingers across his mouth. "Wait, Nick, let me finish. But I knew one day, you and I would be able to be together, and you would finally be able to tell me exactly how you felt about me. Not just that you care about me, but you are in love with me."

"Oh, Nat. Never doubt how much I love you." He said, as he hugged her hard. "After that night, I had to hide all of the feelings I had for you so deep in my heart, so not even LaCroix could find them. But 3 days ago I realized, I could not do it any more. My love for you was just too strong; my heart was just not large enough to hide it anymore, because my feelings for you were busting out at the seams. And I was forced to finally admit it to myself; I am in love with you. And even though we would not be able to tell others, we could at least admit it to one another. But now…"

"Hiding it from LaCroix doesn't matter anymore," Nat replied, kissing him on the lips.

"Yes. Just two days after I came upon this realization, I find out that doesn't apply anymore, and we can finally be together, the way it was meant to be." He pulled her face around and kissed her deeply on the lips. "I love you, Nat. More than I did when I met you, and even more than I did, just yesterday." He kissed her again with such passion, he almost lost himself in the feel of her. And he thought again, 'The Vampire hasn't emerged to destroy the mood. In fact, I'm beginning to fell, almost human.' He kissed her even more passionately, and was about to pick her up and carry her to the bedroom, when the security button went off.

"Our Dinner," He said sighing. He rose from the sofa and went to the security camera, to see a young Chinese gentleman, with several cartons in his arms. Nick hit the button on the wall, and responded, "Take the lift. Second floor."

Nat shook her head and said to herself, 'He said, our dinner, and not your dinner. What is, happening?'

The lift engaged, and the Chinese gentleman entered with their food, walked to the table, placed it on it and then said, "That's $21.95."

Nick reached inside his pocket and took out 2 twenties, and gave them to him. He took them and was about to give Nick change, when Nick put up his hand. "No, keep the change."

"Thank you," He said, then got back into the lift.

As the lift engaged, Nick pulled Nat to him, and hugged her hard. "You know what Nat? That food smells kind of good."

"You might be becoming human after all, if Chinese smells good to you. Sit down, and see if you like it." Nat went into the kitchen and took down two plates, then sat down at the table and Nick did the same. She placed a little of each dish in each one, then said, "Are you ready for your first taste of Chinese food?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," He said a nervously. He reluctantly took his fork and took a little of the Shrimp Fried Rice, and placed it in his mouth. The grin that appeared on his face told Nat all she needed to know. He took a little of the next dish and the next, with the same reaction. In awe he said, "If I knew this tasted this good, I would have tried a lot harder to become human sooner…And isn't there garlic in it too?"

"Yep," She said smiling.

"I don't know what is happening, but I'm glad it is and you're here with me."

"What do you think it is, Nick?"

"I've been thinking about it, and it seems to have begun to happen, right after I admitted to myself, how much you mean to me…Well, that's not exactly it. It was after I finally admitted to myself, I was deeply, hopelessly, and passionately, in love with you. The problem was Nat, I had been going on the last 768 years with the impression, because of what I am, I could never be in love. I know I've had feelings for several women over the years, but I never felt like this before. Not even with Janette. But here I am, I love you so much, I can not bear to be away from you for even a day. I never want you out of my life, because you give meaning to my life. Without you Nat, I do not know how I can go on. I do not want to go on without you."

He rose from his chair and went to her side, got down on his knees beside her and kissed her gently on the lips. "Nat, when I finally admitted in my heart I was really and truly in love with you, all of a sudden I could feel the Vampire in me slowly being washed way; washed away with my love for you and your love for me. I am finally on my way to a cure, and I owe it all to you, and I will spend every day of my life thanking you for that and loving you for that and just for being the wonderful woman I fell in love with," He said as he kissed her gently on the lips. 

Tears began to form in her eyes, as she caressed the side of his cheek. "Nick, I love you that much, too, and I don't want to live without you, either. That's why I needed to know how you felt about me. If you didn't love me, I wanted to know so I could get on with my life. But you know what the truth is? You are my life, too. And no matter what, you are the only person I will ever or could ever love." She pulled him to her, and noticed something. "NICK! Your heart!"

"What," he asked, as he looked around the room, to see what had startled her so badly.

"There is no one here," She said as she placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. It's your heart, Nick. You have a heartbeat!"

"Hugh?" He said, as he placed his hand on his chest, next to hers. "Nat" he said, as tears welled up in his eyes. "Nat? Am I human again?" She shook her head up and down, as a smile appeared on her face. The tears then began to run down his cheeks. "Nat? Is it true? Can it be?"

Nat caught one of his tears with her finger and showed it to him. "Yes. See? Clear tears. Does that answer your question?" He kissed her on the lips, and she reveled in his feel and his warmth. "Your lips are so warm," She said as she sighed against them. "So are your arms. You feel so good, holding me."

He held her tightly in his arms and reveled in, her warmth. "You mean," He said, sighing. "Love was the key, all along?"

"Yes. Apparently, you just had to admit to yourself, to me and in your heart, you were in love with me."

"Yes, but look how much time we have wasted? We could have been together like this, almost 5 years ago."

"Maybe, but it wouldn't have worked out so well, if it had happened back then."

"What? Why not?" He asked, confused.

"Do you not think the Lord had it planned like this all along? He looked at her with quizzical look. "If we had gotten together not long after we met, we both would have been in danger from the Enforcers and LaCroix. He put obstacles in our way, to keep us apart, until…"

"You came up with the cure for the fever, and you would be declared safe from the Enforcers, the community and LaCroix, forever," he said smiling.

He rose from his knelt position and placed his hand for her to take his. She did, and he pulled her up into his arms. "Nat," He said breathlessly, "I have waited for this moment, since I met you; to make love to you as a mortal, without the chance of the Vampire emerging and hurting you." Nat shivered under his protective arms. "Nat, what is it?

"The dream I told you about. That's what happened." She said as she shivered even more.

He walked them over to the sofa and sat down, with her in his lap. "Ok, Nat. What happened," He said softly.

She laid her head against his, sighed deeply, then began. "It was really scary, Nick," She said as she sighed yet again. "First, a friend of mine killed herself and left the suicide note addressed to me, along with the contents of her journal, telling me how lonely she was. It got me thinking Nick, I was as lonely as she was." He turned his head from her. She turned it back to face her, then ran her fingers across his chin. "No, Nick. Not because you were here and we couldn't be together. I was that lonely, until you came into my life." He looked up at her with love in his eyes and kissed her gently on the lips. "Then," She said as she continued. "Tracy was killed in a shootout at the Precinct. The bullet went through you and hit her in the head. We were both very upset and a little distraught, and I told you I wasn't willing to wait any longer, about us. I needed you to give me a decision that night; to try Janette's cure. You finally agreed at your loft that night, but you took too much, than LaCroix showed up. I was dead by your hands, and you asked LaCroix to stake you." Her eyes were now filled up with tears. He wiped them away, kissed her gently on the lips, then held her tightly in his arms protectively, ignoring the tears that were beginning to form in his own eyes.

"Nat," He said with his tears now running down his cheeks. "You know I would never hurt you, but that is why I never wanted to try her cure. I was so afraid I would take too much, and I would lose you, forever. I would rather be a vampire forever, than risk your life. I will do anything in my power to protect you, now and forever." He kissed her deeply on the lips again. "So, what else happened?"

"LaCroix, screamed, "Damn you Nicholas," and then I woke up. It really shook me up Nick and I finally realized I couldn't live like this anymore. I needed to find out how you felt about me. If you loved me, fine. I knew your fears about LaCroix, and the Enforcers. I could live with that, only if I knew you loved me. But if you didn't, I needed to know, so I could get on with my life."

Nick sighed. "I've felt bad because I could not make love to you…"

She placed her fingers over his mouth and said, "Shhhh," Then kissed him gently on the lips. "Nick, making love is only part of a relationship. Yes, I would love it, but all I've ever wanted from you, was for you to tell me how you felt. If you loved me, as much as I love you."

"I do love you Nat, very much, and if you're too upset because of all of this, we can try it tomorrow."

"Not on your life buddy." She rose and pulled him to her. "I know you are looking forward to this, as much as I am."

He reached over and kissed her sensuously on the lips. She replied to him, with just as much intensity. He moaned, then picked her up and carried her up the stairs, into his bedroom.

Later on that morning, much later, they were under the covers in his bed, basking in the afterglow of their love making session. Nick was holding her in his arms and turned his head to her and kissed her on the side of the cheek. "Nat, I haven't felt this good, in years. Does it always feel this good?"

"What are you asking? You never…"

His face, which now has some color to it, turned red, as he blushed. "Of course Nat, but as a Mortal, not in at least 760 or so years." He turned to Nat, and kissed her gently of the cheek. "Making love as a Vampire, usually only consists of the sharing of blood; that is all we normally need to satisfy the blood lust. Mortal sex is possible but in most cases, all we need to satisfy the urge, is the bloodlust."

"You mean, you never shared mortal sex, as a Vampire?"

"Never, and I can tell you Nat, is was well worth the wait, to share it with you."

She hugged him hard. "Well, to tell you the truth Nick, it has been a while for me too. At least, 6 years."

"Why so long, Nat?"

"Because, I was waiting for you," She said matter of factly.

"Nat you didn't have to wa…"

"Yes I did, Nick," She said as she caressed the side of his cheek. "I was in love with you. I couldn't have done that with anyone else, knowing how I felt about you. The dreams I had, imaging how good it would feel, making love to you…"

He kissed her gently on the lips, then said, "Well, how did it compare?"

"Hugh? Oh, there is no comparison, Nick." She replied, smiling broadly. "The real thing was so much better," She said as she snuggled into his arms.

"I know, Nat. I've dreamed about making love to you, too. And, I can't believe we've actually done it. Now, what do you want to do about it?"

"Hugh? Nick, if I'm not mistaken, we just did."

"I'm not talking about that, silly. I'm talking about," He said, as he fingered her engagement ring. "I'm talking about, making this more permanent."

"Oh. Yes, we do have some plans to make."

"Nat, I know this is not what you want to hear, but I don't want to wait. I want to get married, today." 

"Are you serious?"

He shook his head up and down. "Nat, we have waited so long to be together, why wait any longer?"

"You're right. I don't want to wait any longer either. But can we do it all today? Don't we have to get a license first? And what about the ceremony?"

He kissed her on the side of the cheek, then replied, "Don't worry. I called yesterday. The office opens up at 9:00am and the license is good, as soon as it's issued."

"But what about the ceremony?"

"I can call up Judge Milford. He would be glad to help."

"Yes," She replied. "He would do anything to help you, after you cleared him of that murder charge."

"I know," he said. "I can't believe his cle…" He was interrupted by the security system of the loft, by Tracey's voice.

"Hey, Nick! Got some good new! Ring me up!"

Nick rose from the bed, put on his robe, walked down the stairs, walked to the lift, then hit the security button on the wall. "Come on up, Trace. Use the lift."

The lift was engaged, and Tracy emerged from the lift, all smiles.

"What is so important, you had to wake me up?" Nick asked Tracy.

"Sorry, but I just got off the phone with the Captain. Jones, confessed."

"He what? Woah! That is some news. I didn't think he would, even with the evidence. Did he say why?"

"I only got the bare essentials from the Captain. All he told me was, Jones said he was in love with her, and decided to blackmail them, so he could get their money so she would leave her husband, for him." 

"Is that why he killed her?" Nick asked.

"The Captain said when she rejected him, he decide if he could not have her, no one would."

"Yes, but not a reason to kill someone, because they didn't want a relationship, with you. Would you not agree?"

"I know, and speaking about relationships, how is yours and Nat's going?" She asked, with a wink, as a wide grin on her face.

"What are you implying?

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, isn't that Nat's car parked out front?"

"Yes, it is," Came Nat's voice from the stairs. Tracy looked up to see Nat emerging from the stairs, wearing her pink bathrobe.

"I'm just guessing, you got everything straightened out between you?"

"Yes," Nick said. "In fact, we got everything so straightened out, Nat has agreed to become my wife."

"What!" Tracy said, excitingly, looking over at Nat. "This is terrific! Do you need any help planning the wedding?"

"Actually," Nat replied. "We're going to get married today, as soon as we can get a license."

"And," Nick said interrupting. "We need a witness. Would you?"

"I was going to ask you why the rush, but seeing as you've been waiting for this for almost 6 years, I understand."

"Yes, so will you?"

"Of course. Let me get home and get some appropriate clothes, and I'll meet you…Where?"

Nick was just hanging up the phone, when Tracy asked her question. "Judge Milford's office, at 2:30 this afternoon," He replied.

"This after…What about your allergy," Tracy asked concerned.

"Oh! Nat finally found the cure early this morning," He replied, as he pulled Nat to him and kissed her passionately on the lips.

"Ah," Tracey responded. "I better get going. I'll see you this afternoon?"

Nick and Nat breathlessly said, "Ok, see you then, Trace," Then went back to their kissing.

Tracy walked over to the lift and hit the button, then said under her breath, "I knew, they were in love with each other." 

At 2:30 on the dot, "Nick and Nat were married in the office of Judge Milford, with Tracy as the witness.

Back at the loft, Nick and Nat were in bed again, sound asleep holding each other in their arms. Nat woke up and kissed him on the side of the cheek, which caused Nick to stir and open up his eyes slightly, then close them again. She then tickled his side, which caused him to spring up. "What are you doing!" Nick asked, as his eyes now opened up, wide. 

"Trying to wake you up," She said as she caressed the side of his cheek, "And I see, I finally succeeded."

"Yes," He said with a smile. "And I can tell you, I haven't been ticklish, in a very long time. It's annoying, but makes me really feel alive."

"Glad I could help," she said as she rose from the bed and put on her robe.

"Where are you going?" 

"To get us something to eat. What would you like?"

"I don't know. What do we have?" 

Her face scrounged up. "I forgot, you don't have any food in this place. We will have to remedy that. But for now, how about I order a pizza?"

"Sounds good, since I have never had pizza."

"Now that's settled, I need a shower. How would you like to join me," She asked, with a very devious grin appearing on her face.

A grin appeared on his face also, as he rose from the bed and put his arms around her and kissed her deeply. He didn't need to answer her, as they walked into the bathroom together.

Nick and Nat were sitting at the table, feeding each other Pizza. Nick licked his lips, savoring the wonderful taste, of something he had never tried or been able to eat, until now. "Nat, this is really good." He replied as he licked his lips, removing a speck of sauce that was on them. "We should make this a weekly tradition." 

"Yes, that sounds nice," Nat replied. "Now, to talk about something serious, what am I going to do about my apartment?"

"How much do you have left on your lease?"

"It's up from renewal in three months."

"Well, do you think we can get all of your things moved over here, in that time?"

"Depends. Does this also include Sydney?"

He laughed slightly, then replied, "Of Course, Nat, just as long as he doesn't use the furniture as a scratching post." 

She poked him in the ribs, and he pulled her to him and kissed her, then he became serious. "Nat? We need to talk." She looked up to him, with confusion on her face. "What?"

"Well, you and I both know what my cure actually was, but WE can't tell anyone else, about it. What do we tell them if they ask, since there is not really a cure for most forms of Porphyria?"

"Ah," She exclaimed. "Don't worry about that darling," She replied as she kissed him on the nose. "For the last 6 months, I've been searching the Internet for just that problem; and I found the solution."

"You what!" he exclaimed. "I didn't think there was a cure?"

"It's not really a cure, but it does alleviate some of the symptoms, especially, more tolerance to light, which if you remember, was ONE of you most serious ones?"

"Ok, what is it?" He replied, as he cupped her chin, and kissed her gently on the lips. 

"Beta Carotene."

"Hum? The vitamin in carrots?" She shook her head up and down. "Hum. How long have you know about the treatment?"

"Actually, not long. I was searching the internet last week, and I came across an article that just came out, about how the use of Beta Carotene can help some people who suffer from Protoporphyria, the type we've been telling everyone you suffer from."

"Terrific! I can tell everyone you gave me a dose of Beta Car…"

"Hold on there, Nick. Not so fast. It may take several months for it to make a difference. So, this is the story we tell to anyone who asks. I found an article on the Internet about the effect beta-carotene has on your form of Porphyria. You've been taking a dose of it every day for about two months, and you were actually able to walk out in the sun, today; to go to our wedding." She said smiling. 

"Yes," He said smiling from cheek to cheek. "And I can not thank you enough for sticking with me all these years, and to show you how much I do appreciate you and how much I love you, I have a very special gift for you." She looked around the loft, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "No Nat. It's not here," he replied as he led her to the sofa. "Sit down and close your eyes." Nat obeyed. 

"What," She said closing her eyes, as a smile appeared on her face. "And how did you have time to get something for me? We've been together for 1½ days."

Nick walked over to the door then said, "Actually, I bought it when I picked up your ring." He opened the door and picked up the package, with the card still attached, then walked back over to Nat, and placed it in her lap. "You can open up your eyes now, Nat," He said as he sat down beside her.

Nat opened up her eyes and starred at the beautifully wrapped package. She then took the envelope off, pulled out the card and began to read it. And the more she read, the more tears welled up into her eyes. As she looked at him, she replied, "Nick, this is beautiful." She then hugged him hard.

"Well, Nat, I know it's an anniversary card, but the words just spoke to me; I couldn't believe anyone, not even myself, could express in words, what you mean to me. And," He said, as he caressed the side of his cheek, "Every word written down in it, is how I feel about you."

She hugged him again, then looked down at the package that was still in her lap. "So, what else could you give me, that could compare to this beautiful card?" Nat replied, wiping the tears from her eyes. 

"Well," Nick replied, as he kissed her on the side of the cheek. "You will never know, until you open it up."

She opened up the wrapping, took of the cover of the box, then carefully pulled back the tissue paper, to reveal a silk robe, in the most beautiful shade of jade green. She hugged his neck, then took the robe from the box. "It's beautiful Nick. Thank you."

He kissed her gently on the lips, then rose from the sofa, and pulled her up to meet him. He took the robe and helped her put it on.

"Nat? This is your color. It picks up the green in your eyes and sets off your face," He said as he went in for a gentle kiss. "And it makes, if that is possible, to make you look even more beautiful." He kissed her on the lips again, then continued. "Nat? You are the most beautiful woman I have ever known."

"Well," Nat said with her eyes full of tears. "I have to take that as a big compliment, since you have been around for more than 800 years, and met some of the most beautiful women in history."

"Yes, but not one of them could hold a candle to you, Nat. You have brought out things in me, I thought I had lost the day LaCroix crossed me over. Feelings and emotions I though I would or could never have again. And I love you. From the day I came across your table, I haven't been able to get you out of mind or my heart, since."

She pulled her to him, and hugged him hard. "I fell in love with you that night too, and I haven't been able to get you out of my mind since that night either, Nick." He kissed her deeply on the lips, as they fell onto the sofa, kissing and fondling each other.

The table was still covered with an empty pizza box and their dirty dishes, with the two lovers sitting on the sofa, holding each other in their arms, enjoying the fire. Nick was kissing Nat on the lips, when he was interrupted by a noise in the loft. He stopped what he is doing and looked up to see LaCroix standing to the side, his arms folded in front of him.

"Ah, Nicholas. I see your folly has been granted; don't get comfortable. It will not last."

Nick sat up, holding Nat protectively in his arms. "And why not," Nick asked, as he released Nat, folding his arms in front of him, in the same fashion as LaCroix.

"Because I do not wish it. I will make you one of us, again," He said as he walked toward Nick.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Natalie replied. 

He looked at Natalie, with contempt. "You are in no position to tell me what to do, DOCTOR! I WILL kill you!"

"I don't think so," Nat replied. "We know about the Ancients decree. You can not harm me or my family."

"Yes, but I do not plan to harm you. I am taking," As he pointed to Nick, "Him! You took him away from me, now I will take him from you!"

"Like I said," she said with confidence. "You can not harm him. He is now part of my family, as of 2:30 this afternoon." 

LaCroix looked over at her, with confusion. And Nick took over the conversation, looking directly at LaCroix. "We are now married, and I am now part of her family, and she is a part of mine. You can not harm her or me, ever again."

I do not harm you, Nicholas," he said spitting the words.

"I call torture, harming. Which is odd, because my father, my real father loved his family and protected us from harm; he never beat us because we disagreed with something he said. So I have to wonder LaCroix, why you think torture is a form of love, because IT IS NOT. In fact, I don't think you even know what the word means. And I know you claim to love me, but you DO NOT love me. There is only one person since you made me like this, who loved me who loves me without question, and she is sitting right beside me."

I do love you, Nicholas. You are my son."

You claim to be my father, but what father would not be thrilled that his son has found love? My father, my real father, did love me. He was a kind and gentle man. I looked up to him. And I could see it in his eyes; he would do anything to make me happy. On his deathbed…"

As Nick tells the story:

FLASHBACK, 1203

A young 10-year-old Nicholas was beside his father, holding his hand in his.

"Father? Father?" Young Nicholas asked.

"Yes, my son, I am still here, but I am slipping. I must tell you something, before I die. Come closer." Young Nicholas obeyed. "Nicholas, you are the man of the house now. Take car of your mother and sister. I know for our class it is customary to arrange marriages years before. But your mother and I do not like this custom, because we know how important love is to a marriage. When I met your mother, I knew she was the one, and she knew it too. We want the same thing for our children. So, it will come a time when you are an adult, when you will want to go out on your own and find a wife and settle down. Your mother, sister and I, will not begrudge you for this, my son. It is your right to find love and be loved in return. To find what your mother and I have found with each other. I know you will find a wife with the same qualities that I found in your mother, and love and protect her as I have done with her. Embrace it, my son, because when you find true love, you are truly blessed. Do not be afraid to embrace it my son, because love is a very special gift from God. Do not be afraid…"

"Father, Father," Young Nicholas said, as his eyes filled up with tears. He looked down and began to cry. He leaned over and kissed his now dead father on the side of the cheek. "I will do as you asked father. I will find that person, I promise."

END FLASHBACK

"And, I kept my promise to my father, LaCroix. It took me 793 years, but I found love, with Natalie. And for further reference, LaCroix, that is how a real father acts toward his son. Not with contempt, hatred and control, but with love and support. All he wanted was for me to be happy and find love. **FOR ME TO BE HAPPY.**" He turned around to look at Natalie and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, then turned to look at LaCroix again. "You have never thought about my feelings about anything, just your selfish means to keep me at your side and taunt and torment me. To make my life a living hell, to try to convince me my quest for humanity, was futile."

LaCroix's eyes were angry, and he was about to say something.

"No," Nick said. "Let me finish. But, I have to ask you one question, LaCroix? If my quest was futile, why were you so adamant in trying to convince me it was futile? Still today? Then, it hit me. I was on the right track, more than once. If I were not, you would not have been trying to stop me; you would have let me learn from my own mistakes. Then I realized what you were so afraid of, was happening. Being among mortal, living among them, enjoying their company, falling in love with one of them, was one part of the puzzle to regain my mortality. And it did happen. I fell in love, and now you can not control me anymore. I love Natalie with all my heart and soul, and there is nothing you can say or do, that will ever change that fact."

"I don't care if it against the code, I am going to kill both of you." LaCroix said, as he lunged toward them. But a very strong hand, which threw him against the wall, stopped his advance. He looked up at his assailant; it was the same two Enforcers, who had visited Nick the night before.

With their fangs drawn, one of the Enforcers, the one who had thrown him against the wall, spoke. "We have warned you before, Lucian. You do not disobey us. You know the consequences." LaCroix fell to the floor, then picked himself up and regained his composure.

"Yes," He replied between clinched teeth.

"The Ancients thought you would try something like this, Lucian, and they sent us here with a warning."

The other Enforcer now picked LaCroix up by the neck and threw him against the other wall. "You are not above our laws, Lucian. Remember this. If Nicholas or Ms. Lambert or their family or friends are harmed in any way, you will pay with your life. You know the expression, 3 strikes and you're out? Well, you all ready have 2 strikes against you, and your last escapade did not set well with the Ancients, especially Milieus."

He picked LaCroix up by the neck, "One more strike, and you are dead. And I will personally be the executioner, and take it from me. I will make it as painful as possible. DO-YOU-UNDERSTAND!"

The once proud and stern LaCroix now looked like a frightened child, and only shook his head up and down. 

"GOOD!" He said, as he let go of him, LaCroix falling to the floor in a heap. "We now have an understanding." With that, the two Enforcers left the room.

Nick and Natalie, who were now standing in front of the fireplace, looked at LaCroix, with disbelief. LaCroix regained his composure, then looked over at them.

"You married her! How could you! She is only attracted to the Vampire! You must know that!"

"That is where you are wrong, LaCroix," Natalie said venomously. I do love him, with more passion, with more love than I have ever felt for anyone. Period." He turned from her with contempt. "He's already become mortal again, and there is not a damn thing you can do about it!"

"Oh, yes there is!" His fangs dropped and his eyes turned golden, and he lunged toward Nick.

Nick didn't even budge; he just stood his ground and looked LaCroix in the eyes, defiantly. "I dare you, LaCroix. Do it. Kill me like the millions of others you have done over the centuries. I will not be a part of this darkness anymore, so you better just do it and get it over with. But, do you remember the Enforcer's warning?"

"Damn, you Nicholas! I would never harm you because you are my son, but you have defied me for the last time!"

"And I told you, your are not! All you ever wanted to do to me, was control me. And it's a shame, it's taken me 768 years and the love of a good woman, a mortal woman, for me to figure out that fact."

LaCroix looked toward Natalie. "You have done this to him!"

"What! Make him an independent thinker? He's a grown man who can make his own decisions, and he doesn't need his daddy to do it for him! It's called being an adult, LaCroix. And it's a shame you have never acknowledged this."

"Thank you, Natalie," Nick said grinning. "I could not have said it better myself." He now looked over to LaCroix, with a new found strength. "Now if you will excuse me, please leave my home. You are not welcome her anymore."

"This is not over yet, Nicholas. I will get you back one way or the other. If it takes after your precious Natalie is dead, you will come back to me."

"Never again, LaCroix. I belong in the mortal world with Natalie, not in your world of darkness and death." 

"You will come back to me. This cure of yours is only temporary." He turned to look at Natalie. "She knows it is. It's her way of taking you away from me, making you believe she can cure you. But there is no cure. She has deceived you…"

"That's where you're wrong, LaCroix. Only one person has deceived me, and he's been doing it for 768 years, and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of you meddling in my life. It's my life and not yours, and you have no say in the matter."

"It is my concern, because you belong to me. No Nicholas. You will never be free of me. I made you. You owe me!"

"Owe you what, LaCroix! You have never treated me as anything but a possession. You have no power over me, ever again. This story may have been different if you actually treated me as son, but you did not. You treated me as a possession that you could manipulate and control. Well, LaCroix, I am not a possession. I am a person. A vampire maybe, but still a person. And everyone I have ever met, including Natalie has treated me as such, except for you. And why is that, LaCroix? Why, if you claim to love me, do you treat me as a possession and not a son?" LaCroix was about to say something, but Nick silenced him. "No, LaCroix! I am not going to listen to you dribble, ever again. You are NOT my father, you are my master, and THAT is how you have treated me all these years. AS YOUR SLAVE, YOUR POSESSION! I never want to see you again! And now, if you will excuse us, we have a life to plan, which DOES NOT include you. And if you do not want your life to end rather suddenly, the sun will be rising in less that ½ hour. Might I suggest you get out of it, and go live among your own kind, that is if they still want you, too. Because I sure the hell do not!"

LaCroix exited the room, crashing through the skylight, and you could hear his anguished cry, "NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!!!" As his voice faded in the distance.

Natalie let out a sigh of relief. "Nick?" She asked, breathless. "Is it over?"

He kissed her deeply on the lips, then hugged her to him. "I think so. I think, finally, after 768 years, I am really free of the Vampire, and LaCroix."

She hugged him smiling, then her expression became serious. "Nick, I need to ask you a question. A serious one." He shook his head up and down, his face showing fear for the first time in 768 years. "Why did you bring Janette back across, but not be willing to do the same for me?"

He sighed deeply, then turned from her.

"You still love her, don't you?"

"Yes, but not in the way you mean."

"What?"

He turned back around to face her again and held her hands in his. "Nat, I've known her…You know she and I were lovers for a very long time. I loved her, but I wasn't in love with her. Do you know what I mean?"

She shook her head up and down. "But that still doesn't answer my question."

"Nat, I've never known Janette, except as a vampire. I love you, but if I were to make you what I am, I mean what I once was, you would not be the person I fell in love with, anymore. You would be something else, someone else," He said as he led her to the sofa. He sat down in the corner, and pulled her down, her back resting against his chest. "Nat, you saw what it did to your brother; he changed. He wasn't the person you loved anymore. He became a killer. It has taken me years to control my lust for blood, and before the change, I had a hard time controlling it, but I did manage, sometimes, pushing you away in the process. But, I had to push you away, to keep you safe from me, when I found I was loosing control. And you say that would not happen to you, but it will Nat. You will not be able to control it. The need is far to great for a new Vampire."

She sighed deeply, then kissed him on the lips. "Then, I need to ask you another question. Do you think since you are not a Vampire anymore, since you regained your mortality, I do not love you like I did before the change?"

"I don't know, Nat? Do you?"

She caressed the side of his cheek then replied, "Yes, Nick, because I fell in love with the man underneath all that. I fell in love with you, the person you were before this curse, as you put it, happened to you. You don't seem to realize, what, who you were before you became a Vampire, is showing through. The compassion, the guilt, the love, are all there; That is what I fell in love with, Nick. The Vampire was just what was keeping us apart from each other, until now."

He hugged her deeply, then kissed her on the lips. "I know you love me, Nat. I'm sorry I said I doubted it. I do know you love me, as much as I love you."

"Yes, I do Nick, never doubt it, Please?" She replied, as he caressed the side of her cheek, as he nodded his head. "Now, I have another question I need to ask you. Still, about your relationship with Janette."

"Ok, what do you need to know?"

"If you were not in love with her, why did you stay with her for so long?"

"Ok. When we met, she was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and she seduced me, then brought me to LaCroix, telling me I could be hers forever, and I could live forever. I know now I should have turned and run away, but it was a dream come true to be with this beautiful creature, forever. Afterward, we did live as man and wife for almost 100 years, and I was upset when she left me, but there was something missing in our relationship." He hugged her deeply to him. "I never knew what it was, until I met you." 

"Why did you stay with her, if you felt there was something missing?"

"Because LaCroix would leave us alone if we were. I never wanted to see him again. And sure enough, the moment she left, he showed up and it was back to the way things were, before. It was then, after a couple of years of being with him again and his mindless killing, I began to realize I would never, could never be the monster he wanted me to be. I had too much of a conscious. It wasn't long after, I went out on my own and left him for the first time, and it's been like this between us, ever since."

"So, why did you bring her back across?"

"I didn't have a choice, Nat. I could not lose her." She turned from him. He turned her back to face him. "Not because I'm in love with her, Nat," He said as he caressed her cheek, then kissed her gently on the lips. "But because, she is the only family I have. I know it's a strange relationship from a mortal standpoint, but she's like a sister to me. You know what I'm talking about, Nat. You begged me to bring Richard across, because you didn't want to lose him. It's the same thing, with Janette. I couldn't let her die." She caressed his arm, now understanding what he was going through. "And I now know, it was a mistake. She begged me not to. But I do know if she really didn't want to come back, she could have walked toward the light. But she chose to return as a Vampire, again. When she came to and I fed her, she looked at me with hatred in her eyes. She didn't say a word, just flew away."

"Do you know where she is?"

"No. I haven't heard a word from her since, and I don't think I ever will."

"It's all right Nick. I'm sure she'll contact you in due time, when she gets over her anger."

"I hope so, just so I can say I'm sorry." He looked up to her, expecting her to be angry, but instead, she gave him a very passionate kiss. "I thought you would be angry," He replied, confused. He was about to say something else to her, when he was interrupted by another voice. Janette's voice.

"There is nothing to forgive, Nichola."

"Janette?" Nick said, astounded, as he turned around to look at her. "What are you doing here? I didn't think I would ever see you again, after what I did." 

"Quit blaming yourself for matters that are not your fault. It was my decision to turn away from the light again, Nichola. It was my choice."

"I can't believe that Janette, because I saw the look of hatred in your eyes, when you came too."

She sighed deeply then placed her hand on his shoulder. "I wasn't mad at you. I was made at myself for…Listen. Robert's last word to me before he died in my arms were, 'Patrick. Take care of Patrick.'

I was mad at myself for even considering leaving Patrick, when he needed me so much." She walked around the room for a minute, then sat down in the chair across from the Nick and Nat and began to talk again. "When I left you, you know what I did. I killed him for Robert, but afterward, I felt something I had not felt since I was mortal. Guilt. I felt guilty as you have felt, all these years. When you brought me back across, I felt it all. Then I knew, you were right all along. Humanity. It is a lot better existence."

"What changed you mind," Natalie asked.

"Nichola did," She replied, matter of factly. "When he took me, I felt everything he felt. And I saw Natalie, his undying love for you. A love so strong, LaCroix could not even come between you. I know I was in love with Robert, but what you share, is something Robert and I…" She turned to look at Nick. "Even you and I, Nichola, never shared. It was after I had killed, I realized what you were after, is what I wanted. To become mortal again. But how? Robert was dead. But maybe if I raise Patrick, I may at least be able to feel mortal. I know I may never find someone else like Robert again, but I'm going to raise Patrick as my own. I know it is going to be difficult, but I'm determined to make his life as normal as possible."

Natalie looked at her with disbelief. "This is definitely a change in attitude," She said smiling. "But being in love, does bring out the best in people."

"Yes, it does Natalie," Janette replied. 

Nick looked over at her. "Janette, I've been meaning to ask you since you got here. Why are you here? I expect you to be in some exotic locale, not here talking to us in Toronto."

"To tell you the truth, I've been in Paris for the last few months, when a rouge Vampire was leaving bodies left and right. The Enforcers were called, and the culprit was apprehended. And one of the Enforcers, an old friend of yours, Nichola…"

Nick scrounged his nose, and then his face showed he knew the answer. Milo?"

"Yes, and he asked me a very curious question. How was your friend, Donald Schanke?"

"Schanke? Why? I haven't seen Milo in many years…How would he have known Schanke?"

"Well, it seems LaCroix, when he saw he could not get you back his way, decided to speed things along."

"How," Natalie asked confused.

She turned to look at Nick. "He saw how close friends you were becoming and thought if Schanke were out of the picture, he could convince you it was your fault if Schanke disappeared, and you would leave Toronto, with him. But," She said as she turned toward Natalie. "He did not anticipate how close you and Nichola had become, and you actually had more influence in his life than LaCroix had himself."

"So, LaCroix was responsible for the plane crash," He asked coldly.

"No. He convinced the Ancients he was a threat to us, and sent the Enforcers to deal with him."

"So the Enforcers kil…"

"Nichola, please be patient, until I finish the whole story. Hum?" He shook his head up and down, reluctantly. "OK. Where was I? Yes. LaCroix. He somehow, convinced them he was a threat to us. Imagine Donald Schanke a threat? Do not make me laugh! Well, that was their conclusion, too, and they released him into LaCroix's hands."

"LaCroix, has him? Where is he then?"

"He's in one of the catacombs, at the Raven."

"The what," Nat asked.

"They are underground chambers at the Raven, I imagine for smuggling purposes from some years gone by," Janette explained.

"But how did they get him in the first place?" Nick asked, confused.

"Your Captain Cohen and Schanke were waiting with their prisoner to board the plane, when an Enforcer came up to him. He was dressed in a suit, accompanied with a Metro Homicide Police badge and informed Schanke you needed to talk to him, on a pay phone in the lobby. Schanke was in a bit of discomfort, because the jacket he was wearing was too small, and he threw it to your Captain, and said he would be back in a minute, cursing his wife, who had laid out his clothes for him that afternoon."

"Why," Nick asked, "Did they do it there?"

"Because LaCroix convinced them you were always around, and they couldn't get to him otherwise, because you would try to convince them, he wasn't a danger."

"How do you know this much," Nick asked.

"Because Milo, was one of the Enforcers who took him."

"How was LaCroix suppose to bring him back, if the plane he was supposed to be in, blew up?" Natalie asked.

"He was scolded by the Ancients, then instructed to return him to the airport in Toronto, where he was abducted. He was then to strip him of everything but his underwear and handcuff him to the stall in the restroom, to make it look like a robbery. He was then to plant that memory in his head."

"Why did he not do as the Ancients requested?"

"Need I even tell you, Nichola?"

"Yes," he said sadly. "Get back at me."

"Don't worry about him any longer, Nicola. Enforcers will be waiting for him at the Raven, when he gets back from here, and he will be dealt with, appropriately."

"Killed," Nat asked.

"I do not know what punishment they will have in store for him, but I can tell you, it will not be pleasant."

"What about Schanke? Is he all right, and will he be all right, after LaCroix is gone?"

"I asked Milo, to leave that to me. Call your Captain, and get a search warrant for the Raven. LaCroix was planning on leaving town, so it is now boarded up, and the Enforcers should have LaCroix in their custody, as we speak."

"Janette?" Nat asked. "How long are you going to be in town, before you head back to Paris?"

"I would like to move back to town, but I can't until I find out what is happening with the Larouche murder investigation. Don't get me wrong. I can take care of myself. But, I am now responsible for Patrick."

"What," Nick said. "I thought he was living with his aunt and uncle?"

"Oh," She said giggling slightly. "Not long after you crossed me back over, I showed up at Robert's sister's house. I had some pretty good explaining to do, about why I was still alive. And I'm proud to say, I did it without hypnoses. They were happy to comply with Robert's wishes and allowed Patrick to come with me. He and I have been living in Paris ever since, but Patrick became homesick, so we are moving back to Toronto, that is if I am not still a suspect."

"Janette, don't worry," Nick replied. "After the fire, Tracy decided, on her on I might add, that something wasn't right with the case. She did some investigating in Montreal, and some of our "friends" from there, convinced her you were just an innocent bystander who was framed for the Larouche murder by one of their cohorts, because he and the man killed at the Civic Center, were about to spill the beans about their operation."

"Convinced, by hypnosis." She said flatly.

"No. She's a resistor. Vachon…Sorry you do not know Vachon. He was on the plane Schanke was supposed to be on. Tracy saw him moving around at the crash sight and later when all of the bodies were in the warehouse where they did the investigation. She followed him from the warehouse, and she discovered he was a Vampire. He tried to scramble her brain to make her forget, but she's a resistor, just like Nat. Divia killed him a couple of months ago, and the rest is history."

"So," Janette asked. "How did they convince her, if not through hypnosis?"

"Just by talking about the case…You seem to forget, our "Friends" can be a little crafty, if they need to be. A few choice words about the poor innocent lady who was framed for the Larouche murder in Toronto…"

Janette hugged Nick, hard. "Thank you Nichola. I'm glad you still care."

"I've never stopped caring about you Janette. But when you left me so many years ago, I realized one thing. We may have been attracted to each other, but we were never in love. We stayed together not out of love for each other, but out of the need to be away from LaCroix. But you know as well as I do, we were never in love."

"Yes, Nichola. I have tried to convince myself that was not true, but you are right. But I do know I loved Robert, as much as you love Natalie."

"Yes," Nick said. "I think you're right."

"So, Janette," Nat asked. "What are you going to do now you are no longer a suspect?" 

"Moving back to town. I told Patrick before we left Paris, he had a choice of moving to Montreal or Toronto, and he chose Toronto, so he would be close to his aunt and uncle. I am his mother now, and I will do anything to make him happy. We're staying with his aunt and uncle for now, just until we find a place to stay, that meets with my special needs."

"There is always the Raven," Nick replied.

"I thought about that. It would meet with my needs, but it is no place to raise a child. I'm sure I can find a place that meets both of our needs." She looked to Nick and Natalie, and hugged them both. "Now, I must get back to Patrick. Call your Captain, and get the warrant. And you may want to be there, when they find him. He's going to need your help, to help him understand he's been away for almost 6 months."

Before they could even turn around, Janette was gone. 

"Thirty minutes later, showered and fully dressed, Nick and Nat headed to the lift, with Nick holding his cell phone in his hand. "Capt.? You got it? Ok, I'm on my way to the Raven, and Nat is heading to Schanke's place, to pick up Myra and Jenny." 

The Raven was being raided by the Metro Police Department, with Nick leading the way, placing his hand under the lip of the bar and feeling for something.

Reese looked at him and asked, "Nick, what are you going?"

"I know the former owner. She told me about a button," He said as he felt under the bar, "That will open up a panel against the far wall." He pressed the button, and a panel moved to the right, revealing a set of steps leading downward, into a dark abyss. 

Nick walked down the steps with a flashlight in his hand.

Schanke was sitting in his cell. He was a little thinner than he was before, but he looked surprisingly good and still mortal, despite the fact he had been a prisoner of a very evil Vampire, who would not have thought twice of bringing him over, if he thought it would bring Nicholas back to him. 

A slight ruckus could be heard outside of the cell, and Schanke heard it, or thought he heard it. He had been there so long and dreamed so often of being free of his captor, he almost thought it was a dream. That was until, he thought he heard a familiar voice. "Am I dreaming? Can that be Nick's voice?" He said aloud. He took his fists and began to bang on the cell door. "Hello," He screamed. "Hello! Nick is that you! Hello!" He sighed deeply, believing he was hallucinating the whole thing, when he heard feet rushing toward the door.

"Schanke!" Nick screamed. "Is that you?"

"Nick! Get me the hell out of here!"

"Sure thing partner," Nick replied in a cherry voice. "Stand away from the door. I'm going to try and blow the lock off." Nick fired. The next thing Donald Schanke knew, a person who never showed emotion was hugging him so hard, he though he would loose his breath. 

"Nick? Can you let go," he said in a strained voice. "I can't breath."

"Sorry Skanke," Nick said apologetically, as he released him. "I'm just glad you're safe. We all thought…"

"I was dead?" He asked concerned. "How long have I been missing?"

"Six months," Nick said sadly.

"Six months! If that's what you thought, what do Myra and Jenny think?" He said, concerned. "I've got to get to them and let them know I'm all right."

"Don't worry about them, Nat is with them right now. She's explaining it all to them, so it want be that much of a shock." Nick turned from Schanke, and Don saw he was uncomfortable about something. 

"NICK! Is something wrong?"

"No, well yes. Not really, but Myra and Jenny are not the only one's in for a shock."

"What? WHAT IS IT NICK!"

"Don't worry Schanke, it's nothing to wrong about, so calm down." But Schanke's look was anything but calm. "Ok," Nick continued. "I see you are upset, so I'll tell you this, before I tell you the other news. After you disappeared, Myra was really depressed. That is until…until…"

"What?"

"You had been 'dead' 1½ months, when Myra got the shock of her life. She was expecting another baby."

"She had a baby while I was gone? Man oh man, do I pick a great time to…"

"Actually, she hasn't had it yet, but it's due soon. Very soon."

"How soon," Schanke asked.

"Any day."

"Get Nat on the phone. Now!"

"What is it Skanke?"

"Myra gets agitated, very easily. Jenny was born a week early because…"

Schanke sentence was interrupted by Nick's cell phone. Nick picked it up and replied, "Nat what is…Now? OK. Tell her we're on our way."

"She went into labor, didn't she," Schanke replied.

"Yep. Let's get you to the hospital so you can help deliver your son."

"Son!"

"Yes. Everything points to a boy."

"I'm having a son?" Schanke said, as tears began to form in his eyes. "A son."

"Yeah, and we better get going, or he's going to be born without you."

They began to walk out of the cell, when Reese's voice interrupted them. "Nick? Do you have him?"

"Yes, Capt. We're coming up now." Schanke looked over to Nick as they ascended the stairs and nervously asked, "Nick? Um, what happened to Cohen?"

Nick let out a deep sigh. "I don't know how I can tell you this, but she died."

"How…The plane?" Nick shook his head up and down. 

Schanke placed his head in his hands and fell against the wall of the stairway. "What happened?"

Nick explained to Schanke about the plane, and the explosion, on their way up the stairs and in the Caddy on the way to the hospital.

Schanke ran into the Hospital and excitingly asked the nurse at the desk, "Myra Schanke! Where is she?"

"And you are?" She replied.

"Don Schanke. Her husband."

"Follow me please." Don did.

Myra was on the delivery room table, with Jenny at her side, when Don entered. All three broke down as the family reunion of the decade, was happening in the delivery room. 

"Donnie, what happened," Myra asked with tears in her eyes.

"I'm not sure of all the details, but I'll tell you want I know. I was with Cohen and our prisoner Dollard waiting to board the plane, when someone with a Metro Badge told me Nick needed to talk to me on a pay phone." She began to have a contraction, and he held her hand. "Honey are you all right?"

"Fine, until the next one." She said with a smile. "Please, finish your story?"

"Ok. You laid out my clothes for me, before you went to your mother's. Well, the jacket was the one that went with that suit I had outgrown, and I was in a hurry and didn't bother to put it on until I got to the Airport. That's when I realized it was that jacket. When the guy told me Nick needed me, I took it off and threw it to Cohen. I went to the pay phones, and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up in a cell. I didn't know where I was or how long I had been there, until Nick found me." He kissed her on the lips, then pulled Jenny to him. "And, a day did not go by, that I didn't think about the two of you," He said, as tears ran down all of their faces, and Myra had another contraction.

Nick, Nat and Jenny were in the waiting area for the delivery room pacing the floor, when Don ran through the door, screaming, "It's a boy! It's a boy!" He ran up to Jenny and gave her a hug. "Jenny," He said crying, "You have a baby brother." Jenny hugged him back, crying tears of joy; tears of joy for the brother she thought she would never have, and tears of joy for her father, who she never thought, she would see again. He released her, then went over to Nick. "Nick, can you believe it? I have a son."

"Congratulations Don," Nick said as he patted him on the back. "Have you and Myra decided on a name yet?"

"Yep," Schanke said, proudly. "Donald Schanke, Jr. But, Donnie for now."

At that moment, Captain Reese walked into the waiting room and walked directly over to Schanke. "Detective Schanke?" Reese said, as he extended his hand for Don. Don took it and they shook hands. "I'm Captain Joe Reese," He explained. "I didn't get a chance to meet you earlier. I'm sure Nick told you about Amanda Cohen?" Schanke shook his head up and down. "Nick has told me what a fine detective you are, and I'm really looking forward to working with you. Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was waiting with Captain Cohen and Dollard, when someone with a Metro Badge…" 

Fifteen minutes later, Schanke had finished telling Reese and Nick the story Janette had told Nick, earlier.

"You have never seen him before?" Reese asked.

"Never, but I've been thinking since, who could it be? An ex-con? A family member of one? I'm at a loss, because if it was one of the above, I have a feeling they would have killed me at the time, instead of holding me captive."

"How were you treated," Nick asked.

"Besides the fact I was a prisoner? Actually, fairly well. I never saw the face of anyone, but I was given three meals a day, and on occasion, magazines and books; but never any newspapers."

"Ok. Well," Reese said. "We will need you to come to the station in the next few days and make a statement about your ordeal. And, the Commissioner wants you to be checked into this hospital, ASAP."

"Captain, I'm fine. Really."

"I'm sure you are, but Commissioner Vetter wants you to be checked out, just to be on the safe side. Just for observation. And," As Reese placed his hand on his shoulder, "He said he could not allow you to return to the force, until you do."

"Ok," Schanke said. "You don't have to tell me twice. Let me just tell Myra what's going on, first." 

Later on that night, Schanke was sleeping in his hospital room, when Nick entered. Jenny was sitting in the chair next to her father's bed, just staring at his sleeping form. Nick walked over to her and nudged her. 

"Jenny," He asked whispering. "How are you feeling?"

"Hi, Uncle Nick," She said yawning. "I know I should be with mom, but I haven't seen my dad for 6 months. I think if I go to see her I'll fall asleep and when I wake up, this will all be a dream." 

Schanke began to arouse. "Jenny? Who are you talking to?"

"Hi, Skanke," Nick replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Hi, Nick. I'm fine." He looked over at Jenny and kissed her on the side of the cheek. "Jenny? Will you go and look in on your mother for me? Nick and I have a few things we need to discuss. Police talk."

"Ok, Dad." She kissed her father on the cheek, then walked out the door, smiling and sighing happily.

Nick sat down in the chair. "Why did you send her away? You want to talk?"

"Yes. What I don't understand, is how did Nat make such a mistake? I mean, I'm obviously still here…"

"Skanke," Nick interrupted. "The crash scene was a mess. My new partner and I were driving by the airport, when we saw the plane explode in the air. We were the first ones at the scene and found the only survivor. A baby. Then I began to walk around the debris, and I found part of your ID…Why didn't you have it with you?"

"It was in my jacket pocket…So that's why you thought I was in on the plane?" Nick shook his head up and down to agree. "But what about the autopsy?"

"Skanke, you didn't see it; if you had, you would not be asking me that question. Cohen and Dollard's bodies were identified by dental records, and the fact Dollard was handcuffed to her wrist…" Nick let out a sigh, as he just thought of something. "Why didn't I get the connection before?"

"What Nick?"

"Dollard was our collar; you would have made sure he was under your protection and attached to your wrist, until you relinquished custody of him to the authorities in Edmonton."

"Yep, you're right about that," Schanke replied, confident Nick's observation was right.

"Yeah, and since your seat was taken, we assumed you were the one sitting in it. It's most likely, one of the passengers that the Coroner's office was unable to find, may have taken your seat. There just wasn't enough left, for them to make any kind of comparison."

Schanke let out a sigh of relief, thanking whoever kidnapped him a silent thank you, for inversely saving his life. "Nick? Since Dollard was the bomber, what happened to the plane? Fuel line or some other…"

"No," Nick replied. "It was a bomb. What we found out during our investigation, was Dollard was just a copy cat killer. The real bomber set the bomb, how do I say it so it want sound crazy? Because Dollard broke the magic?"

"What!"

"It's a really long story. Are you up for it?" Schanke shook his head up and down.

"A ½ hour later, Nick was finished with the tale, and Schanke shook his head from side to side in disbelief. "You mean he set a bomb at all the police headquarters?"

"Yes. Several precincts were destroyed; ours would have been, if I didn't get there in time and throw the bomb out of the window."

"That had to have been one crazy son…Well, you know what I mean."

"Yes, and I'm just glad you're safe. It was real shock to find you at the Raven, no less."

"I know. I didn't want to say anything in front of Reese, until I talked to you in private. Why would Janette want to kidnap me?"

"It wasn't her, I can assure you. I hadn't been to the Raven in several months before the plane crash and discovered right after, she left town and sold it to…you're not going to believe it."

"Who?" Schanke asked, 

"LaCroix? The Nightcrawler?"

"He kidnapped me?" Nick shook his head up and down to agree, sighing deeply. "But why would he…He's related to you somehow, isn't he?"

"It's hard to explain, but he was kind of like a surrogate father, to both Janette and I. She and I are not related; LaCroix just took both of us under his wing, when we were young. But, he and I never got along, and I think that's why he took you."

"So you think he is the one who took me. Why?"

"I've always hated the lifestyle he lead, and he resented the fact I did not follow in his footsteps. I could not do it, and he took this to mean disobedience and has tried to make my life a living hell, ever since. I'm a police officer and proud of that fact, but he didn't like it, and has tried to discredit me on several occasions. He's always resented the fact that I have a life away from him, with good friends and relationships. He's tried on more than one occasion to hurt the people I love, to get me to come back and follow in his footsteps."

"Hurt them? How?"

"Just like I believe he did with you, and no, there is not a doubt in my mind, he is the one who did this to you."

"Then, this explains about you and Nat."

"Yes. I have no doubt he would do something to her; and don't say I'm a police officer and I could stop him. He has connections, unlike any you could ever imagine who would do his dirty work for him if he asked them, and I have no doubt, Nat would be on the top of that list."

"Yes, the two of you are very close."

"Yes."

"What are you going to do about it, if you're afraid…"

"I'm not afraid. Actually, Nat has given me the strength to face him. And, I heard from a mutual friend that the people who he has always turned to for help are fed up with his shenanigans and are not going to help him anymore. He is literally, alone in the world now. I don't think I will hear from him again."

"You know, even if he may have left town, we will still have to put out an APB for his arrest."

"I know, but I'm sure when you were discovered at the Raven, he left town and is long gone by now. I am sure, I, we will never see or hear from him again."

"Yeah. But I still don't understand why he would harm the ones around you. Is he that jealous?"

"I'm afraid so, which is the very reason I could never let him know how close Nat and I have become," He replied with a contented sigh. "But, I do know he would have hurt her, just like he did with you," he now replied with sadness in his voice.

"Nick? Don't think I don't notice that look on your face, when you or anyone else mentions Nat's name. Are you still claiming you're 'just friends?'" Schanke said, with a grin on his face. 

"Yes," Nick said grinning, "But that might not wash with anyone anymore."

"Why?" He said, slightly confused.

"Because, we were married by Judge Milford, this afternoon."

"Damn, and I missed it," Schanke said with a little smile.

"Yes, just don't say anything yet. My new partner is the only one who knows right now, and we would like to tell everyone ourselves."

"Nick? I know I've been away for a while, but you look different."

"My face? It has a little color," He said with a grin.

"Yeah, that's it. What happened?"

"Besides LaCroix, my skin condition was one of the reasons Nat and I couldn't get together. It's complicated, so don't ask. But Nat found a cure for it, just a couple of days ago." 

"Yeah that is part of it, but you're acting a little differently, too. But, I bet that has a lot to do with Nat." Nick shook his head up and down. "And with you and Nat now married," Schanke said, elbowing Nick in the ribs, "When are the two of you going to hear the pitter patter of little Knight's, running around the loft?"

"We want children Don, but don't you think we might want to have a honeymoon first?"

"Oh, yeah." Don said laughing slightly and giving him a knowing grin. Where are you planning on going?" 

"We haven't decided yet," Nick said grinning. "But I promise you will be the first to know." His expression now became serious. "Don, before you make your way back to the station, there are a couple of thing I have to tell you. "First, your desk isn't your desk anymore. It belongs to my new partner, Tracy Vetter.

"Vetter? As in Commissioner Vetter?"

"The same one. It's his daughter. She's good, but still a rookie. I'll talk to Reese and see what he would like to do about us. I would like you to be my partner again, if you want to and if Resse agrees."

"I guess I can get used to that again," Schanke replied, grinning. "So, what else do you need to tell me?"

At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Tracy poked her head through it saying, "Sorry to disturb you Nick, but Nat said you were here. I've got some news about Jones, I though you might like to know."

Come on in Tracy and let me introduce the two of you. "Donald Schanke, let me introduce you to Tracy Vetter."

"Vetter as in Commissioner Vetter?" Schanke asked with a grin.

"Yep, that's my dad."

"Glad to met you Tracy."

"Same here, Detective Schanke." She replied as the two of them shook hands. "Nick never stops talking about you."

"I'm really surprised by that," Schanke replied grinning. "I drove him crazy, most of the time." He motioned for her to come to his side, then whispered in her ear. "Does he disappear on you too?"

Tracy's mouth fell open, and she whispered back in his ear, "Yes, Constantly."

"What are you two plotting," Nick asked.

"Nothing," Schanke replied. "I'm just glad to know your disappearing act's weren't just directed at me." 

"That's enough, of the plotting," Nick replied, smiling, then his expression became serious. "Trace? You said you had some news about Jones?"

"Oh, Yeah. Those ID's we found at his place? I've checked out three of them, and all three names were suspects in connection to homicides in the states; same MO as the Taylor murder." 

"Nick?" Schanke asked. "What's this all about?"

"Did you know Caroline Taylor?"

"Yes. She sold Myra and I our house. Why?"

"Her husband suspected some months ago, Jones drugged her then seduced her. He also had pictures made of the two of them together, then blackmailed the Taylor's in the hopes to get all of their money, so she would leave her husband for him. When she finally told him she would never leave her husband, he killed her two nights ago. Beat her up, shot her, then tried to rape her in the parking lot of her office complex."

"Hugh. You know? This sounds a lot like a murder I investigated before you joined the force. Same MO, but the suspect's name was Simon Jenkins."

Nick shook his head from side to side then replied, "A little too much of a coincidence for me," Then tuned to look at Tracy. "Trace? Was Simon Jenkins one of the names of those ID's?"

"I'm not sure. I've only looked at the ones I checked, so far. But I'll check for it when I get back to the Precinct. You think it could be connected?" Tracy asked.

"Yes," Schanke replied. "When the two of you get back to the precinct, call up Stontree and have him fax over the entire Whitmire murder case file to you. It was from 1988 or 89. There is a picture in the file of the guy I suspected. I'll bet you 10 Souvlaki's it's the same guy." 

"Yeah, you may be right Skanke," Nick replied, giggling slightly, remembering his affection for the smelly Greek sausage. "Tracy and I will do that."

"Oh, Nick, I have something I need to tell you," Tracy replied. Nick turned to face her. "Before I came in here, I talked to Reese. I know how close you and Detective Schanke were, and Reese said if you wanted to be partners again, he had no objections, as long as I was ok with it."

"And?" Nick replied.

"I'm fine with it, Nick. Really. I know I was forced on you because of the plane crash and if Schanke was not believed dead, you would still be his partner."

"Tracy, I know I've not been the easiest person to get along with, but…"

"You're right about that," She said grinning. "The truth is, Nick, I was really learning at lot from you. But really, I'm fine with it. Everyone I've talked to at the Precinct has told me what a great team the two of you made, and besides, I just found out who my new partner will be; that new transfer from the 23rd, Jerry Parker. And, he is gorgeous!" She replied grinning. 

"Ok, Trace, if you're sure you're ok with changing partners. I'll see you at the Precinct tomorrow, and we can get it all worked out."

"Sure thing Nick. See you tomorrow night, and Detective Schanke? Hope to see you at the Precinct real soon, too," she said as she happily went out the door.

"Nick? When you said Vetter, I was expecting her to look like her father. Not as attractive, and definitely, not as perky. I don't think I could handle perky."

"Yeah, I know. She's really a good detective, but is a little annoying at time, because of the perkiness." 

"So, Partner," Schanke asked, grinning. "What else did you want to tell me, before we were interrupted?" 

"Hum? Oh, sorry. The partner of the month plaque," Nick replied. "Nat and I placed it on your 'grave,' after the funeral."

"That's OK, Partneeer," Schanke said in his classic Schanke, drawl." And Nick seemed to be lost in space again. He always seemed annoyed; the way he said the word partner, but now it seemed it was music to his ears. Schanke was waving his hand in front of Nick's face. "Nick, are you there? Nick?" Nick shook his head from side to side, to break out of his trance.

"Sorry, Don. I was just thinking, I never thought I would hear that word said quite that way, ever again. WE all missed you."

"Thanks Nick. But don't worry about the Plaque. If it's still there and not weathered beyond recognition, we can place it on the wall between our desks. It'll be a reminder to us all, that life is way to short to be obsessed with plaques, trophies, or awards. The real gift is your family, man. My family. That is the most precious award I could ever receive." A single tear ran down Schanke's cheek.

Nick and Nat were sitting at the table in the loft finishing their meal, when the buzzer for the security camera was engaged. Nick looked over at the camera and was surprised to see Janette. He knew something was very wrong, if she would or 'could not?' use her usual method to visit him, the skylight. And when he saw her pallor, he knew it was something very serious, because in the 768 years he had known her he had never seen her so pale. "Janette," he said, in a very concerned tone. "Are you all right?"

"Nichola. We need to talk. I have news about LaCroix."

Nick hit the security button then replied "Come on up." The lift engaged, and Janette emerged, looking even paler in person.

Nat walked over to her, and placed her hand on Janette's shoulder. "Janette? Are you all right? You do not look good." 

Janette had a little trouble walking, and Nick and Nat helped her to the sofa. "I am fine, Natalie, but thank you for asking. It is LaCroix, I am afraid. Even though Nichola is my master now because he crossed me back over, I still have a slight connection to LaCroix. I felt something last night…This is hard for a mortal to understand, but as a Vampire, you are connected to your Master. They feel your pain, and you feel theirs."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Nat said sympathetically. "The enforcers killed him, then."

"No," She said as she turned to look at Nick. "But he is being tortured, and in lots of pain. And pain this great does not come from the Enforcers. It comes from someone more powerful…" 

"The Ancients," Nick interrupted.

"Yes. I just left them. Milieus was not pleased because LaCroix has disobeyed them and the code far to often for their taste and this thing with Schanke was the last straw."

"What are they planning to do with him? Torture him, then kill him?" Nat asked.

"Not death, no. But he will not like what they have planned."

"When did LaCroix ever like anything, Janette," Nick replied.

"Yes, you are right, but he WILL NOT like this. No Vampire, except maybe you Nichola, would like this."

"What," Nat asked curiously.

"He is forbidden to have contact with any of our kind, for 200 years. If he breaks this decree or breaks any of our codes during that time, he will be executed in the most unpleasant way our kind can be dealt with."

Nick cringed.

"What is it Nick," Nat asked, alarmed.

"It's what she said. The most unpleasant way to kill a Vampire is to do all four things that can kill them, at once: Decapitation, the sun, a stake and fire."

"Yes," Janette said. "They are decapitated, right before sunrise, staked, then caught on fire. I have seen it done only once, and I never want to see it again. It is far to brutal even for me, and even LaCroix cringed when he saw it."

"Then it must be brutal," Nat replied, "To get that kind of reaction from LaCroix."

"Yes," Janette replied.

Nat looked at Janette and then said, "Janette? You're beginning to get your color back, finally."

"That means, LaCroix is no long in pain," She said as she let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, and now I must be getting back to Patrick."

Before Nick and Nat could say anything else, she was gone. 

They walked over to the sofa and sat down and wrapped themselves in each other's arms, enjoying the warmth of the fire and the warmth of each other. Nick looked at her longingly in the eyes, then kissed her gently on the lips. "You know Nat? She is not the same person she was before," He said happily. "And I'm glad she is beginning to have some happiness in her life, for once. Being among mortals has that effect on us, so it seems," He said as he gave her a big smile. "And you know what? It is a wonderful feeling," He said smiling and hugging her to him.

She reached up and kissed him on the tip of his nose. "Yes," she replied breathlessly. "It is a wonderful feeling to find love and be loved in return. I don't know how I know, but her mortality, is just around the corner."

He kissed her on the lips, then fell to the floor, and pulled her down on top of him, and began to kiss her neck, passionately. "I was just thinking that myself," He replied, as he tickled her on her side.

Nick and Nat were sitting together in a private jet owned by The deBrabant Foundation, alone, except for the pilot. Nat was sleeping soundly, her head resting on Nick's shoulder. A little turbulence aroused her from her deep slumber, and she looked up to see Nick looking down at her, longingly.

"What are you looking at," Nat asked as she yawned and stretched.

"You. You are beautiful, even when you sleep." She smiled slightly, and he kissed her gently on the side of the cheek.

"Nick, will you tell me now, where we're on our honeymoon?"

"A place that is near and dear to my heart. Brabant. I want to share it with you, the place where I was born and grew up."

"Oh! We're going to France. I have always wanted to…"

"Actually Nat, Brabant is in Belgium. But at the time I was born, it belonged to the Holy Roman Empire."

Nat looked lovingly into his eyes, then kissed him on the side of the cheek. "Ok, we're going to Belgium." She said smiling. "So, which part of Belgium are we going to?"

"Brussels. The castle where I was born is not far from it, but I doubt if it's still standing," He said sadly.

"You haven't been there, recently?"

"No," he said as tears weld up in his eyes. "Not since LaCroix and I buried Fleur," He said sighing deeply. "I just couldn't come back. To many bad memories." 

She took his hand in hers and brought it to her lips and kissed it, the tears now, running down his cheeks. "Nick? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Nat. But becoming mortal again, has brought back all of the human feelings I thought I had lost so many years ago. I miss them so much, Nat; My mother, my father, Fleur, and my nephew, Andre'. I never knew how much, until now."

She caressed the side of his cheek, again. "I understand Nick, because I miss my family, too, especially Richard. It was such a shame for such a good man, to die the way he did."

Nick turned pale, as pale as he was before and turned from her, then began to cry. "Oh, Nick, I'm not talking about you." She turned him back around and said softly, "I'm talking about that bastard who shot him. He's the one who killed him, not you. To this day, I wish I had listened to you. I was just so full of grief, I wasn't thinking straight. If anyone is to blame for that, it's me, not you." He tried to say something but she stopped him, by placing her fingers over his mouth. "No, Nick. I made you feel guilty because I was helping you. I was so distraught, I never realized what I had done to you, until I saw what Richard became."

"Still Nat, I should never have…"

"But you did Nick, for me." She kissed him on the side of the cheek, then wiped his tears away with her fingers. "And, Nick? I love you and I will always be grateful that you loved me enough to give me just a little more time with my brother, so I could tell him I loved him, one more time." Her eyes now filled up with tears.

Nick wiped her tears away, then held her hands in his. "I love you so much Nat. I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I am so grateful to have you in my life."

Nick and Nat were riding in a car, exploring the countryside of Brabant. Nat had her head lying against his arm, and she was smiling from ear to ear, looking at the peaceful expression on his face. "Nick? Do you recognize anything yet?"

"I know we're getting close, Nat, I can feel it in my bones. And," As he pointed to a grove of trees on the right side of the road, "That tall tree over there, looks very familiar," He said as a smile appeared on his face. He drove over the grove and stopped the car, as tears began to stream down his face.

"Nick, are you all right?" 

He shook his head up and down. "Yes. Let's get out of the car and explore a little, if you don't mind."

"Sure, but are you sure this is the right place? It has been a while," She said as they exited the car together.

He leaned against the closed door, scanning the countryside, as he sighed and hugged his arms. "This is it. I've found it, Nat. We're parked right in the middle of the estate I grew up on. That tree I pointed to? It was a lot smaller when I was little…"

How can you be so sure?"

"I'll show you," he said, as he began to pull up the pants on his right leg. "This," he said, as he pointed to a one-inch long scar, on the side of the knee. "I got this when I fell from that tree."

"You fell? And all you got was a little cut?"

"No. A cut and a broken ankle. And my mother was not pleased."

"Oh. Because you were hurt."

"No. Because…You see that place in the middle of the tree, where there should be growth, but there isn't?" Nat looked toward the tree, and shook her head. "My mother planted a tree for each of us, after we were born. The smaller tree to the right," He said as he pointed to the smaller tree, "Was planted for Fleur, and the taller one next to it, the one I recognized, was planted for me." 

A grin appeared on his face as he began again, "Like any other young male of that time, I dreamed of becoming a knight for the Crusades. I had a wild imagination, and on this particular day, I decided to hide in the tree, my tree, and sneak in on my enemy. Well, the tree, which was not very large at the time, was my real enemy; it didn't support my weight, and I fell into the middle of it, taking all of the limbs in the middle with me. And it is quite apparent from the look of it, it has not been the same, since." He said laughing.

"I bet your mother scolded you and punished you."

"Scolding, yes."

"She didn't punish you?" 

"Well, she really didn't have to." A curious look appeared on Nat's face, as she moved her eyebrows up and down. "Because," He continued, "She had told me on more than one occasion not to climb in the trees, and she felt breaking my ankle was Gods way of punishing me." A confused expression appeared on Nat's face. "We didn't have casts back then, only splints. And trust me, splints were not that good and if you broke a bone, you were forced to sit still until the bone healed completely. An adult may have liked to sit still and have someone wait on them until the bone healed, but for a youngster as energetic as I was?" He grinned slightly, then kissed Nat on the side of the cheek. "Believe me, Nat, I learned my lesson. No climbing trees, ever again." Nat smiled up at him, then gave him a big hug.

"Ok, Nick. The trees are still here, but what about the house?"

"Actually Nat, we're standing where it used to be. And I was afraid of that. This area took a lot of the brunt of many wars over the years, and often the estates of the elite were destroyed first. I'm just sad it's no longer here, so I could share it with you."

Nat kissed him on the side of the cheek then hugged him tight. "Nick, all I want to share with you, is my life. If you were as poor as a church mouse, I would not care; as long as I could be with you."

He kissed her deeply on the lips. "Nat? You are the most amazing woman I have ever met in more that 800 years, and I am proud to say to everyone, you are my wife, and I love you dearly." He then took her in his arms, pulled her to him, and hugged her hard.

Nat kissed him in return. "Nick, even if the house isn't here, you can still give me a tour, can't you?"

He kissed her on the cheek, then took her by the hand and led her around. "Ok. The place we are standing in right now, was the kitchen. It was customary for people of class to have servants. We did, but my mother often took over the kitchen for herself. He led her into another part of the castle. This was the dinning area, or the great hall as it was called then. We had many a time entertaining Knights, Noblemen and Dukes and Duchess' over the years. Over here," He said as he led her into another part of the castle, was the library, and," As he led her into another part of the castle, "Was one of the three sitting rooms. The other two were on the 2nd and 3rd floor." He took her hand in his, and led her to an area to the back of the sitting area. "This is where the staircase was to the 2nd floor, to the sleeping quarters."

She looked up at him and saw the happiness as well as the sadness in his eyes, and then reached up and kissed him on the side of the cheek. 

Nick hugged her to him, and then looked into her eyes and saw the love shinning through them. He knew at that very moment, he was the luckiest man in the world to have found someone as understanding as Natalie. She had never given up on him and was at his side from the beginning. And there was no doubt in his mind, that their love for each, but more specifically, her love for him, was what was really responsible for his final transformation from Vampire to mortal again. And now she was at his side as he wife, and he wanted nothing more than to begin a family with her. He smiled sweetly at her, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. He soon began to get a little more amorous, as his lips left hers and moved down to her neck, kissing it even more passionately than he had her lips. He then said against her neck with a little sadness in his voice, "Nat, I lost my family many years ago, and I thought I would never have a chance to have a family of my own. Then, you came into my life. And from the moment I met you, I felt it was possible, and there is nothing I want more, than to begin a family with you and only you."

"I do to, Nick. And if you want to start one, we can begin as soon as we get back to our room."

"Actually," He said with passion in his voice, "I want to start right now." He kissed her on the lips and began to pull her blouse down to her shoulders.

"Nick, we can't do it right here, in the open," Natalie said as she pulled her blouse back up to her neck.

"Why not," He said as he began to kiss her neck, passionately, again.

"What if someone comes by?"

He looked her deeply in the eyes. "I don't think anyone has come by here, in quite some time."

"Still, I don't like it."

"OK, if it will make you happy," He said smiling. "We'll go back to the Hotel. But, I don't think it will be as much fun." He kissed her gently on the side of the cheek, wrapped his arm around her waist, and led her back to the car.

THREE MONTHS LATER-CHRISTMAS EVE

The Schanke house was alive with Christmas music and holiday cheer, with the entire homicide department celebrating. The children, including Jenny, were in the den watching videos, while the adults were in the living room and dinning room, waiting for Christmas dinner. Myra, Nat, Tracy, and Denise Reese, were busy in the dinning room, while Reese was holding a conversation with Commissioner Vetter and Tracy's new partner Jerry Parker, and Don and Nick were sitting down on the sofa, talking, with Donnie sitting in his fathers lap. 

"Joe," Commissioner Vetter asked. "How is the Caroline Taylor Murder case coming?"

"The trial is set for the second week in January."

"I thought the killer confessed?"

"He did, that morning, but now he is claiming Knight coerced it out of him."

"My lord, Joe. Why would he jeopardize the case like that?"

"He didn't. I was in the interrogation room when Jones did confess; Knight was home. In fact, it was during the day, and until recently, Knight was not able to do that, because of his allergy to the sun."

"And Tracy told me," Jerry replied, "She went to Nick's that morning, right after she was told about his confession. And he and Nat had spend the night together and were just getting up when she arrived."

"I know, Jerry," Resse responded.

"You, know," Vetter replied. "None of this makes any since. Was his Lawyer present when he confessed?"

"Yes. But, she's claiming Knight did it anyway. How she's going to claim he did it, unless she's going to claim he did it through telekinesis, is beyond me. Or maybe she's trying to set it up to make Jones look insane for the Jury. But we found something out recently, that we believe may put him away for life."

"What," Vetter replied.

"Schanke had a similar case, about 8 years ago; Same MO," Reese replied. "The suspect was a guy named Simon Jenkins, but he couldn't make it stick. He had a picture of the suspect in the file, and guess what? It's Silas Jones. We do know Silas Jones is his real name and he was born in Toronto." 

"You think he could be serial killer," Vetter asked.

"Yes," Reese replied. "During their search of Jones' place, they found quite a few ID's with his picture on them, but issued in different names…" Reese then motioned for Jerry to continue.

"All of the names on the ID's were suspects in murder cases from Canada and the States, with the same MO as the Taylor murder. It seems his employer's, all female I might add, were all killed in the same fashion as Caroline Taylor, over a 12-year period. So, all four of us have been very busy. Nick and Schanke have been doing the investigation in town, and Tracy and I have been handling the rest of it, and we found something kind of interesting; every alias he has had, have all had the same initials. SJ. But, we believe we will have all the evidence we need when the trial begins, to put him away, for good."

Meanwhile, at the sofa, Nick and Schanke were conversing, while Schanke was bouncing Donnie on his knee. "Well, Nick," Schanke asked. "Are you looking forward to actually eating something for Christmas dinner, this year?"

"You don't know how much, Skanke. My skin allergy was a major part of that. Once Nat got that straightened out, my food allergies began to fade away."

"I've been meaning to ask you, were you born with the allergy, or…"

"Yes, and no. You are born with it, but it may stay dormant for years, usually the teenage years, when it hit me. It was scary, not having any family to help me through it; but then I met Nat, and she finally came up with a cure to help some of the symptoms, especially the sun problem." 

"What's it called again?"

"Porphyria, or in my case, Protoporphyria."

"Well, that goodness for Nat and her cure, whatever it was."

"Yes," Nick replied. "If I had not meet her, I would still be where I was then. I love her for that, and for so much more," He said as he looked over to her and blew her a kiss. She caught it in her hand and blew him one in return and smiled at him, and then tuned around and went back to setting the table.

"Myra?" Nat asked. "Do you want to start setting the food out?"

"Yes, I think we can start that." 

Tracy walked into the dinning room from the kitchen, with a stack of plates. "Myra? Where do you want to put these?"

"On the buffet," Myra replied, as she walked back into the kitchen.

Tracy placed the plates on the buffet, as Nat came up beside her. "Trace? I've been meaning to ask you, all night. How are you and your new partner working out?"

"Great, Nat. I still miss working with Nick a little, but he and Schanke do make a terrific team."

"Yeah, I know. They were really just getting to be good friends and not getting on each other's nerves, when we thought he had died. But, you are right Tracy. They do make a good team."

"I know, but Jerry is a really good detective, and I'm learning a lot from him, too."

Nat left Tracy's side and was heading back into the kitchen, when Tracy caught up with her. "Nat, I forgot to ask you, if Nick has told you the latest about Jones?" Nat shook her head from side to side. "Well, it seems Jones is now saying Nick coerced a confession out of him, the morning he confessed."

"What? How is that possible? He was with me, all morning long." 

"I know, and so does the Captain. And we also have the fact that Nick was unable to go out in the sun…When did that happen?"

"The day Jones confessed. I finally came up with a cure not long before you came to the loft, to tell us he did, confess."

"We're at a loss as to why he would lie about it, unless it's his Lawyer's way to try to make him sound insane."

At that moment, Myra walked back into the kitchen. "Nat? Is Nick's friend Janette coming?"

"Nick asked her…" Nat looked up and saw a smile appear on Myra's face. "Myra, what have you done?"

"Nothing, just invited Lionel."

"No, Myra. Janette is just getting over the lose of her fiancée, and raising his child. She's not ready…"

"Nonsense," Myra interrupted. "They will get along, so don't worry."

Nick saw the expression on her face and excused himself from Schanke, and then walked over to Nat. "Honey, are you all right?"

She shook her head from side to side. "No. I need to talk to you, before Janette gets here with Patrick."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Myra the match maker has struck again," She whispered in his ear.

"Oh, no. Janette and who?"

"Lionel."

"Isn't that the guy she tried to set you up with once?" He said with a grin on his face.

"The same one," She said, as there was a knock on the door. Nick and Nat walked over to the door and answered it, to Find Janette and Patrick.

"Janette, Patrick, come on in," Nat replied. "And Patrick, Jenny and her friends are in the den," She said, as she pointed to a door to the side of the living room, "Watching videos. Why don't you go on in there and join them, and we will call you all, when it's time to eat." Janette kissed Patrick on the side of the cheek, and then he walked toward the den.

"Janette," Nick replied, "Nat has something she needs to talk to you about, before you get too comfortable." She turned toward Nat as Nick walked over to Reese, and began to talk to him, Jerry and Commissioner Vetter.

"What is it, Natalie?"

"Walk outside with me, for a minute?" Nat asked.

They walked outside on the stoop. "What is wrong? Is it Nichola? Is he changing back," She asked concerned.

"No, Nick is fine. Around the precinct, Myra Schanke is known as Myra the matchmaker, and you are next on her list."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's invited someone named Lionel to meet you. I just wanted to warn you, ahead of time."

"Don't worry, Natalie, I'll be cordial, but nothing else. I'm not ready for a relationship with anyone."

"I told her that, but she is very persistent."

"I'll be careful, so don't worry. And," Janette asked. "Have you told Nichola, you're pregnant yet?" 

"How did you know that," Nat asked shocked.

"Heartbeats." Janette replied, smiling.

Nat smiled, then said, "No, not yet. I wanted to wait until Christmas morning, but I'm thinking about telling him here, after dinner."

During dinner the whole table was full. Don was sitting next to Myra, Nick was sitting next to Nat, Captain Reese was sitting next to Denise, Tracy was sitting in-between Jerry and her father, and Janette was sitting next to Lionel. All of the children were sitting at a separate table in the living room, with all of their attention focused on Jenny doting on her baby brother. 

After Dinner, Nat asked Nick to walk outside for a few minutes. They went outside, dressed in their winter coats, hand in hand, walking on the sidewalk. Nick held her hand in his and brought it to his mouth and kissed it. "Nat, is everything all right?"

"Yes, Nick. Everything is fine."

He looked at her, not convinced. "Nat, you haven't been yourself, since your talk with Janette." He turned pale. "What did she tell you? LaCroix is coming after you, us, isn't he?"

She giggled slightly, caressed the side of his cheek and then said, "No, honey. She told me something I wasn't going to tell you until tomorrow. About you Christmas present."

"How would she know what you got me for Christmas?"

"Actually, she knew the minute she saw me."

"What?" He asked confused.

"She," Nat replied, as her eyes filled up with tears. "She said, she heard the heartbeat."

"What? Heart…A baby? We're having a baby!"

She shook her head up and down, as tears filled both of their eyes. He pulled her to him and kissed her on the cheek. "A baby. We're really having a baby? When?"

"Well, I'm 3 months along, which puts it in the neighborhood of the second week in June."

"It was conceived, during our honeymoon?"

"Yep. So you see," She said smiling, and poking him in the ribs playfully, "We didn't need to make love outside at the Brabant estate, after all."

"He pulled her to him and laughed slightly, then kissed her on the lips. "I love you Natalie, and," As he placed his hand on Nat's stomach, "I will love our child, just as much." They then, walked back into the house, all smiles.

Nick walked over to the dinning room table, took a glass in his hand and tapped it with a knife. "Can I have everyone's attention please?" He replied. Everyone in the room looked over at Nick. "I have an announcement to make." He pulled Nat over to him, and kissed her on the side of the cheek, then continued. "I am pleased to announce, that Natalie and I are expecting our first baby." 

"Man, oh Man," Schanke replied. "Do I envy you, Nick. The midnight feeding, the spitting up…"

"But," Myra interrupted. "It's worth it all. Don't let Donnie here, scare you. He was a nervous wreck when Jenny was born, but he became a pro in a matter of weeks."

SIX MONTHS LATER, BABY CASSY FLURETTE KNIGHT WAS BORN

Nat was asleep in her hospital room bed, with Nick asleep in the chair next to her. A nurse wheeled Cassy into the room, parked her next to Nick, and then nudged him. "Excuse me Mr. Knight, but I just brought your daughter in. Would you like me to wake your wife up or would you like to?"

Nick began to awake, and yawned and stretched. "I'll wake her up, thanks."

"Ok. If you need anything, please hit the buzzer," She said as she walked out of the room.

Nick caressed the side of Nat's cheek, then kissed her on the cheek. "Nat? Nat?" He said, softly.

Nat began to arouse and opened up her eyes, and smiled. "Morning," She said as she smiled broadly.

"Morning yourself," he replied as he kissed her gently on the lips. "You did good, Ms. Lambert."

That's Mrs. Knight, thank you very much."

"Sorry, I stand corrected," He said as he kissed her on the cheek again, then looked lovely into her eyes. "And, our daughter is so beautiful," He said as he look down at Cassy. "Just as beautiful as you." He said, as he began to look into space.

"Nick? Are you all right?"

"Yes, love. But Cassy's delivery brought back memories."

"Hum?"

"I told you I was a medic in the war, but I never told you about a baby I delivered in the early 60's."

Hum?…You delivered a baby?"

"Yeah. I had just had another near miss with LaCroix and another cure in Spain…Never mind I'll tell you later. Right now, I want to concentrate on Cassy. He kissed his daughter gently on the top of her head.

"You never cease to amaze me, Nicholas Knight. All these years you have thought you were a demon, a creature of the night, but you go out and deliver a baby. That is not something someone who sees himself as a monster, would do."

I know that now, Nat. And I have you to thank for getting me to see that." He reached down and kissed her on the lips, when a nurse walked into the room.

"I'm sorry Mr. Knight, but visiting hours are over for right now. Be back at 2:00."

He pulled away from Nat, with a smile on his face, "Well, looks like I have to go for now."

"Yes," She said sadly. "But, if you want to make me really happy, could you go by home and get my baby book out of the chest at the foot of the bed? It's baby blue and yellow, and has a picture of a baby on the cover."

"Ok, but why do you want it?"

"I remember a picture of me in it, and if I'm not mistaken, Cassy looks a lot like I did when I was born."

"Nat, I don't need a picture to tell me that," He said with a smile on his face. "She looks just like you, but I will get it and be back here, at 2:00 on the dot." He reached over and kissed and hugged her, then left the room.

At 2:00 on the dot, Nick was in her room, with the baby book in his arms, along with a complete pink ensemble for Cassy. Nat was sound asleep, until Nick's warm lips pressed themselves onto her forehead. She opened up her eyes, grinning. "What is that you have in your hands," She replied as she touched the pink outfit.

"Oh," He said grinning. "How do you think Cassy will look in this, when we take her home?" He said, with a proud expression on his face.

"Beautiful, Nick. Just beautiful." She said, with tears forming in her eyes. "Did you get my baby book?"

"Yeah, here it is," He said as he handed it to her. At that moment, a nurse wheeled Cassy into the room and parked her next to the bed and began to hand her to Nat, but Nat pointed to Nick. The Nurse walked over and placed Cassy in the hands of her proud father. 

As Nick was making faces at his daughter, Nat opened up her baby book and her mouth fell open and tears began to appear in her eyes. "Oh my God," she said under her breath.

"Nat, are all right?" He asked as he looked over to her.

"Yes, Nick," she replied through tears. "I'm fine."

"No you're not. What's so upsetting?"

"It's not upsetting, Nick. Just, a big shock. A real big shock," She said grinning, and half-laughing. "I think, I, we, met before that faithful day in the morgue, 6 years ago."

"Nat? If I met you before, believe me, I would have remembered it," He said as he brushed his lips across her forehead.

"Maybe not," she said with a wicked grin. "This baby you delivered. Did it by chance happen in Maine, in the middle of blinding rainstorm?"

"Yes…How did you…" His sentence was interrupted, as Nat opened up her baby book, so he could see the picture; A picture of Nick holding a tiny baby in his arms, in front of his green 1962 Caddy. And under the picture was the Caption, 'Natalie's Guardian Angel.'

"NAT!" He replied, as he took the book from her. "What does this mean?"

"It means you are my Guardian Angel, Nick," She said with a smile, as she caressed his cheek. "From the time I was able to understand, my parents told me I had a guardian angle; the man who delivered me. I've always wanted to thank him for his kindness to my parents and for stopping to assist them. And now I've got my chance." She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

"Nat, this is to much, you know? But it does make since, now.""What does?"

His eyes filled up with tears and he caressed the side of her cheek. "Our meeting. Or should I say meetings. And what it means is, you and I have always been meant to be together. And now I know, God has truly forgiven me for my sins."

"You didn't know this before?"

"Yes, Nat. But this tells me that God sent you to me, and me to you."

"Nick, I don't think…" He places his fingers over her mouth.

"Nat, let me finish this tale first. OK?" She shook her head up and down. "I told you about Spain. Well, when I returned to the states, I was really devastated and deeply depressed, questioning that there was really a cure. I had just bought the Caddy, and was living in the trunk for awhile until I could find a place to stay."

"You bought it new?"

"Yeah, right off the assembly line, in 1962. It was just another year to me, just another day in the life that would not end. I was really felling down." He held her hand in his, tightly. "Well, I was traveling in Maine, driving and…"

Nat interrupted him with the word, "Thinking."

"Yes, thinking," He said as he rubbed the tip of her nose. "But, I have to tell you want I was thinking, first. I was really beginning to reevaluate my life and was contemplating walking into the sun, the next morning."

"What? Nick? Why?" She asked, with tears streaking down her cheeks.

"I was depressed, Nat. I had been searching for a cure for so long, and with the devastation in Spain, I was beginning to believe LaCroix was right, and there was not a cure. When out of nowhere, a storm hit. I have been in many a storm in my lifetime, but nothing compared to this. There was a car in front of me, and it crashed on the side of road. I was tempted just to drive by, but I could not. I knew I could not. I pulled in front of the car, to discover the occupants, a man and a woman, still alive. But, I heard three heartbeats. I was a little concerned, until I noticed the woman was pregnant, and in labor."

She looked up at him and squeezed his hand. "I tore the door open and pulled them out. They were grateful and explained the baby wasn't due for a couple more weeks and had decided to take a trip before the arrival. But, the baby had other ideas."

Nat looked up at him, with amazement. "You delivered me!"

"Yeah," he replied, with the tears still in his eyes. "Appears, so." He said smiling. He reached down and kissed the sleeping Cassy on the forehead, then kissed Nat on the lips. "Now to get back to my story," He continued, "I told you I had some experience as a medic. I have delivered a baby or two in my day. But, this was different. I delivered this beautiful baby girl," He said with a wink. "In the back seat of my car, no less." He said grinning. "And like you said, they were very grateful for my assistance and asked what my name was, so they could name her after me. I then explained that Nicholas wouldn't suite a girl; at least not one as beautiful as she was and suggested one of my favorites."

"Which was," Natalie asked grinning.

"I don't know why I haven't thought about this since I met you, but it was Natalie," He said with love in his voice, and he looked over to her, lovingly. "I've always liked the way it sounds as it comes off the tongue," He said smiling. "I then looked down at that baby in my arms, and I felt something hit me that was so strong, I almost fell back."

"What was it," Nat asked.

"It was just a feeling, Nat, but as I looked down at that baby in my arms, I knew my quest was not futile, like LaCroix had been telling me for so long. That beautiful angelic face looked up at me, not with fear, but comfort and love. I knew right then, I would do it some day; find a cure and become mortal again. That smile told me that. But, that was more than 30 years ago, and I had almost given up hope, the day I came across…"

"My Table," Nat interrupted.

"Yes, and somehow I knew again, it would be all right."

"Why do you think that was," Natalie said crying.

He caressed her on the side of the cheek, then kissed the sleeping Cassy on the top of her head. "Because Nat, you are my destiny."

"No Nick. I don't think…"

"Nat? Listen. When I saw you the night I came across your examining table, I had given up hope. Then I saw your face. You were not scared, just intrigued. I had never seen that in anyone. You intrigued me, Nat, but more than that, you inspired me to not give up. I can't describe it, but your presence somehow told me everything was going to be all right."

"Why do you think that?"

"The feeling I had when you were a baby, was the same feeling I had the night I came across your table. It was a sign from God, Nat, that you were sent to help me. Both times I saw you, as a baby as an adult, He was telling me I had atoned for my sins and my penitence would be coming to an end, soon; with you. He sent me to you, Nat. There is no other explanation."

"I know, Nick. I know. I'm beginning to believe that too, and in the process, he has blessed us again. With this," She said as she laid her hand on Cassy's arm, "With this beautiful baby girl."

"Yes, and look at that picture of you. She looks just like you," He said proudly.

"I know. We are truly blessed, Nick. Truly blessed."

SEVERAL YEARS LATER, POLICE DEPARTMENT PICNIC

Schanke, Nick and the gang were at the picnic for the police department. Nick, Schanke, Reese, Jerry, Commissioner Vetter, Patrick and Lionel were playing baseball at the baseball field, and Nat, Tracy, Denise, Jenny and Myra were setting up the picnic tables.

Janette, who is now pregnant and very large, was walking in the sunshine, with a little girl at her side. Janette placed her hand on her back, rubbing a sore spot.

"Aunt Janette are you all right?"

"Yes, Cassy. I just need to sit down. Carrying around this extra weight, is a little tough on my back." She walked over to a picnic table with Cassy still at her side and sat down on top of it.

"Aunt Janette? When is your baby due?"

"Actually, Cassy," She replied. "I'm having two babies. I'm having twins."

A shocked look appeared on Cassy's face, and her mouth fell open. "Does Patrick and Uncle Lionel know!"

"Of course, sweetie. We are all really excited, because I was told a long time ago, I could not have children."

"I'm going to be a big sister, too!" Cassy said excitingly. 

"What?" Janette asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Mommie is having another baby, too. When will it come? As soon as your? I hope so! I can't wait! Can I play with them? I bet they are really cute. Do you think my baby brother or baby sister will be cute? I hope so!" Janette began to rub her temples with her fingers in exasperation, over Cassy's bombardment of questions.

Nick was at the other side of the park playing baseball with the rest of the department, when he saw the exasperated look on Janette face and excused himself from the game and walked over to a smiling Cassy.

"Cassy?" Nick said. 

Cassy ran to her father, and he picked her up in his arms. "Daddy! Did you know Aunt Janette is having 2 babies!"

"Yes. It's called twins, sweetheart." He kisses her on the side of the cheek and then whispered in her ear, "Why don't you go over and help Mommie, and Myra with the food? I think they could use a big girl like you, to help out."

She kissed him on the side of the cheek, and he placed her on the ground, and she ran over to Nat.

"Sorry, if she's bothering you Janette. She's, at that age…"

"Nichola, do not worry about her. She's just being a child, and I better get into practice," She said as she rubbed her swollen stomach. "It is not going to be long, before I am going to be faced with those same questions, from my own two." She said smiling.

"You know, Janette? I have known you for a very long time, but I have never seen you so happy."

"Well, Nichola, I have never been this happy before. Even before. And, I understand from Cassy, you and Natalie are expecting another baby?" She said, smiling.

"Yes. We found out, last week. We were going to announce it after we eat, but Cassy the Town Crier, I think, will do it for us."

"Yes, and I hope mine have just as much energy as she has," She said as a tear appeared in her eye.

"Janette, are you all right?"

"Yes, Nichola…I'm not who I once was; not who I was, just a year ago. Would you mind if I call you something else? Everyone seems to stare at me when I say Nichola. Like they have never heard the French pronunciation of your name, before!" She said giggling slightly.

He smiled, and then grinned. "I wouldn't mind, Janette. In fact, I would like it if you call me Nick, if that's all right with you."

"Ok, Nick it is." She replied. 

"Nichol…Nick, Where do you think he is?

"I have no idea. I just hope wherever that is, he is as happy as I have been the last 2 years."

"I know. After centuries of running and trying to convince myself that immortality is what I wanted, I was not truly happy."

"And now?"

"Yes, I am really happy. I love Lionel, dearly. I loved Robert too, but I think I love Lionel more. But I do know Robert would be happy for me and for raising Patrick into the fine boy he is today. He and Lionel get along so well together, no one knows he's not his natural father. We have a family on the way, and I can truly say, I am as happy as I have ever been in my life." She turned to look at Nick. "And you?"

"Yes. I love life and I love Natalie and Cassy with all my heart. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had not met her. Not because she was helping me, but because she was my inspiration. I think I fell in love with her the moment I met her and somehow knew everything was going to be all right."

"You never have told me, how did you two meet?"

He giggled slightly. "One night, before I joined the police here in Toronto, I stopped a gang robbery and someone threw a pipebomb at me for my efforts. It exploded, and I was presumed dead. They brought me back to the morgue and by chance, Nat was working that night. While she was on the phone, I began to regenerate and woke up with my fangs drawn and jumped off the autopsy table I was lying on and went straight to a blood bag and drained it, in front of her. She just starred at me. She wasn't afraid, just intrigued. And curious."

"She wasn't scared!"

"Not at all. I think that's what drew me to her. And I have loved her, ever since."

"I see why. Every mortal who has seen me in that state, except Robert and Lionel have run away, scared I would hurt them."

"Yes, they are truly special."

Yes, I know." Janette replied.

At that moment, Nat came up behind them, smiling. "Interrupting something?"

"Not at all," Nick replied. "We were just talking about happiness."

"Oh," She said grinning. "And by the way, Nick. I fell in love with you the moment we met, too."

"You were listening," He said smiling.

She ran from him. He caught up to her, and kissed her on the lips. He fell to the ground, and pulled her down on top of him. Cassy joined them, and Nick pulled her down on top of them. And at that moment, Janette moaned loudly and caught her stomach.

They all rose from the ground, and looked over at Janette, whose face was contorted.

"Janette," Nat asked. Are you…"

"Yes. I am in labor," She panted.

Nick turned to look at the baseball game, which was still in progress. "Hey Lionel!" Lionel turned around and looked in Nick's direction. "You ready to be a daddy? You're about to get your chance!"

Lionel and Patrick ran from the game to Janette and leaned by her side. "Darling, are you feeling all right?" Janette moved her head up and down, before she had another contraction. 

"Mom," Patrick said concerned. "Are you sure you are all right? You don't sound very good."

"Janette took his hand in hers and held it tightly. "Don't worry Patrick. All mothers have to go through the same thing, when they have a child. I will be fine." At that moment, Nat came to Janette's side with her medical bag and checked her vitals.

"Yep," Nat replied. "Everything is normal. I hear two, no three healthy heartbeats. Ready to go to the hospital?"

Janette shook her head up and down, as Lionel and Patrick helped her up and led her to a car in the parking lot.

Later on that night in her hospital room, Janette was sitting up in her bed with her two daughters in her arms, and her husband Lionel and son Patrick asleep in the chairs next to her bed. She kissed the both of them on the sides of their cheek, then kissed her daughters on their foreheads.

"Yes, Nick, you were right," She said softly. "Mortality is a far better existence. And I have never been more alive, felt more loved or been happier in my entire life." As she held her newborn children in her arms, she cried and smiled a smile that said just that.

The next morning as the sun was beginning to rise in the East, sitting on a park bench was a pale figure sitting with a wine bottle in his hands. To any other casual observer, he would look to be a drunk, who had passed out on the park bench, dressed in black tattered clothing. But as he took off his sunglasses, you soon see, it is Lucian LaCroix. But somehow, he looked different; sad and despondent. He is alone. All alone, as the sun touched his face, and he began to burn and smoke. His last words as he was dying, were "Divia? Divia?"

He reached over and swatted at an aberration. It was Divia and she was laughing satanically. "Yes father, it is I! You left me alone, so many years ago. I tried to kill all that was dear to you, so you would be alone. I could not do away with all, but it seems you have done it for me; you and your undying need to control all around you, has been your downfall. You have lost you precious Nicholas and Janette, and now you are all alone!" She said as she laughed. "I have won, father! You are all alone, and I have one!"

She was still laughing, as the last of LaCroix went up in a puff of smoke. "Yes, father I have won," she replied, proudly, as she floated away, still laughing satanically.

THE END


End file.
